7th Circuit to Weigh in on Assault Weapons Ban

Adam Lanza used such a weapon, a Bushmaster carbine, to shoot his way into Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012.

U.S. Circuit Judge Ann Claire Williams took the torch from Easterbrook and cut in: "Can a city ban fully automatic weapons? What if machine guns became common?"

"That'd be viewed under Heller as one of those longstanding bans," the attorney replied.

"But you haven't pointed to one study showing that assault weapons are better for self defense than handguns," the judge said.

Vogts was clearly prepared for this. "They are accurate, reliable and easy to use. They have many attributes useful for self-defense. They are some of the safest as well because they use lightweight rounds less likely to go through walls and hit a family member during self-defense. This is essentially the technological evolution of firearms."

Highland Park's attorney, Christopher Wilson, generally seemed far less prepared for the grilling he received. He repeatedly stumbled and referred to Blackstone before an impassive Easterbrook.

"This doesn't implicate Heller or the Second Amendment ..." Wilson began.

Easterbrook laughed: "That's ridiculous! Of course it implicates it."

"No," Wilson replied, " the right is not a right to carry just any weapon, but a right to carry handguns."

Easterbrook picked up the plaintiffs' logic: "The Supreme Court said that commonly owned weapons are covered, and plaintiffs say these are commonly owned. If we don't know whether that's the case, then summary judgment was inappropriate."

Wilson mentioned several mass shootings and said: "Highland Park has determined that assault weapons, given their use in such shootings, are too dangerous."

U.S. Circuit Judge Daniel Manion, who seemed to have no inclination to favor the ban, picked up the thread: "It seems that these horrific things are not based on what weapon they used, but who was using it and why. In Chicago, for example, almost all the murders are done with pistols."

Wilson finally found his footing: "Sandy Hook could not happen in Highland Park because he fired over 100 rounds. In Tucson, the shooter was able to get off 30 rounds before they tackled him. In Aurora, a person fired dozens of bullets in a matter of minutes."

Later, probably trying to curry favor with Easterbrook, he added: "You can't have a bazooka."

The move backfired. "Why not?" Easterbrook demanded.

"They're not commonly owned," Wilson said.

The judge chuckled: "They're uncommon because they're illegal. At the time of Heller, handguns were not common in D.C."

The lawyers also sparred over the effects of various modifications prohibited under the statute.

"What really troubles me is the barrel shroud," Wilson said. "It allows you to hold the barrel and fire multiple shots without burning your hand."

"These features make the gun more accurate," Vogts said in rebuttal. "Design characteristics of a firearm to make it better cannot be turned around to make it unlawful. I'd like to address Sandy Hook. Look a little more closely. He didn't only go in with a rifle, but with two large caliber handguns. He would have been able to do this even without an assault rifle."

Easterbrook ended the day bemoaning the lack of a clear standard to decide the case. "We have no idea what 'scrutiny' means here. Any speculation about why the Justices declined to specify it?" he asked, before mentioning that the Supreme Court had declined certiorari on several such cases.

"I have no insight into their reasoning on that," Vogts shrugged.

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