House Bill 23-1230 will ban most semiautomatic rifles if passed. It starts off citing statistics regarding gun violence and mass shootings.

But none of that matters. The Supreme Court has ruled that we cannot look at the benefits that gun control may have on society. In the courts, this is referred to “means-end scrutiny” (the ends justify the means). Instead the Supreme Court ruled that “the government must affirmatively prove that its firearms regulation is part of the historical tradition.”

You may think that the 2nd Amendment doesn’t protect so-called assault weapons. The Supreme Court has come up with the “common use test” that addresses this issue. If a gun is in common use for lawful purposes, then the government can’t outlaw them. The AR-15 platform is the most common gun in the United States.

You may think that the 2nd Amendment only applies to the militia. In District of Columbia v. Dick Heller, the Supreme Court ruled “the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to possess firearms independent of service in a state militia.”

The U.S. government has checks and balances. The courts can strike down laws that are unconstitutional. But there’s a problem in that the Supreme Court can’t walk into Congress, and say, “This law you guys are working on is unconstitutional and must be stopped now.”

The Supreme Court doesn’t rule on the constitutionality of laws until they go into effect and rise through the courts.

David Norman

Durango