Shot…
Here’s what Sahil Kapur of Bloomberg News tweeted earlier today on the Supreme Court’s “District of Columbia v. Heller” ruling:
Gun control is often conflated with 2A rollback but most of what the left wants is permissible under SCOTUS precedent: banning semi-automatic weapons + high-capacity ammo, univ background checks, age limits.
The only right is to have a handgun at home for self-defense.
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) May 20, 2018
Chaser…
And here’s the brutal fact check via the Washington Free Beacon’s Stephen Gutowski:
This isn't remotely true. Have you read Heller? Do you know what semi-automatic means? Or that semi-automatics make up the vast majority of firearms currently owned by civilians in the United States? Did you do any research at all before tweeting this? https://t.co/xSDW8S8jCJ
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) May 20, 2018
He's obviously ignoring Heller, which recognized the 2nd Amendment establishes an individual right to keep and bare arms which extends to guns in common use, and trying to cite lower court rulings upholding state bans on so-called "assault weapons."
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) May 20, 2018
The attempt to cite lower court rulings is done incorrectly, though, as none of them have yet asserted a government power to ban semi-automatics wholesale. They've merely claimed a power to ban some subset of semi-automatics which resemble military rifles in some fashion.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) May 20, 2018
Lower courts have been split on the constitutionality of AR-15 & other rifle bans. The Supreme Court has not yet weighed in on the issue but it's hard to argue the AR-15, literally the most popular rifle in the country, isn't in common use for lawful purposes as Heller outlined.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) May 20, 2018
Perhaps the Supreme Court will rule on this at some point but the reality is they have not in any way ruled assault weapons bans or a far more extensive ban on semi-automatics to be constitutional. Not even close.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) May 20, 2018
I do my honest best to help educate other reporters on the basics of firearm function and policy but it sometimes feels like trying to fill up the grand canyon with pebbles.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) May 20, 2018
But Kapur wasn’t done:
What are you talking about? Those laws are on the books in various states and SCOTUS has turned away appeals to review them, thus letting them stand. How is that not a signal that they view them as compliant w/Heller? (cc @adamwinkler)
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) May 20, 2018
Just stay down, dude:
Are you serious? That's not how the Supreme Court works. Deciding not to hear a case is nothing like issuing an ruling or opinion. That's SCOTUS 101.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) May 20, 2018
I'm sorry for being agitated in this exchange but there are several key errors in your original thread that I felt need to be addressed.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) May 20, 2018
***
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