Ted Cruz: New Gun Control Proposals 'Unconstitutional'

[Tempest]

23. He's wrong, of course.

The right to bear arms is protected by the Second Amendment, but it is not absolute and lawmakers have introduced a series of common-sense restrictions. For instance, in the Heller case, the Supreme Court found that while a handgun ban is not constitutional, because handguns are in “common use,” a machine gun is not and therefore could be restricted. An assault weapon equipped with a clip that can shoot hundreds of rounds would likely fall into the same category. As conservative Justice Antonin Scalia wrote, “the Second Amendment does not protect those weapons not typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes, such as short-barreled shotguns.”

In 2011, the D.C. Circuit Court upheld a law prohibiting large-capacity ammunition magazines and assault weapons.

There were no serious challenges to the Assault Weapons Ban that expired in 2004, though in 2002 an appeals court unanimously upheld the law.

Source: ThinkProgress