Appeals Court Upholds Maryland's Assault Weapons Ban

Following the mass killing at Sandy Hook, the Maryland legislature passed into law, a 2013 ban on assault weapons.  As expected, that law has been challenged in court by gun rights advocates.

Just last February, a U.S. Court of Appeals, upheld the lower court's ruling that the law was constitutional.  The court agreed with the argument that "weapons of war" don't belong on our streets.  But, the "weapons of war" argument is specious.  Every assault weapons ban has only one thing that defines it: Cosmetics.  Here's a perfect example:

That graphic was done when Senator Dianne Feinstein was trying to push a national assault ban through the Senate, by offering an example of how useless assault weapons bans are.  Maryland's law is no different.  Gun manufacturers know they can simply make subtle changes in order to make the weapons legal.  A perfect example is the Sig Sauer R716:

For whatever reason, the "Firearm Search" website of the Maryland State Police says this rifle is legal in the state to buy or sell.  On the other hand, the Sig Sauer MCX -- which was used in the Orlando massacre -- is not.  And, it actually looks less menacing than the R716:

Both weapons accept magazines with more than 10 rounds.  Both are semi-automatic, and both can kill.  I think that anti-gun legislatures are passing laws without the slightest understanding of the gun industry.  They are trying to fool people into believing that they have solved a problem when they haven't.  Guns like those above kill very few people in this country.

I just wish that the State of Maryland was more interested in solving the murder rate in Baltimore which has been at record levels since the death of Freddie Gray.

References:

US appeals court upholds Maryland assault weapons ban: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/02/21/us-appeals-court-upholds-maryland-assault-weapons-ban.html

Source of the First Graphic: http://imgur.com/gallery/Q9OIM

Maryland State Police: Firearm Search:  http://mdsp.maryland.gov/Organization/Pages/CriminalInvestigationBureau/LicensingDivision/Firearms/FirearmSearch.aspx

Thousands Of Americans Are Gunned Down Each Year, But Few Die By Assault-Style Rifle: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/assault-weapons-deaths_us_5763109de4b015db1bc8c123

In 2016, Baltimore's second-deadliest year on record, bullets claimed targets and bystanders alike: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-homicides-2016-20170102-story.html