New Gun Issue Is Ripe
for the U.S. Supreme Court

The Second Amendment guarantees "the right of the people to keep and bear arms," and while last year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled who may constitutionally bear arms in public; next year it may reaffirm what arms they may keep.

Gun rights organizations filed a notice to appeal a federal judge's opinion upholding an Oregon law banning so-called "large-capacity" magazines, those capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

On July 14 U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut held that while the Constitution protects an individual right to self-defense, large capacity magazines "are not commonly used for self-defense, and are therefore not protected by the Second Amendment."

Alan Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation, one of the groups that filed a notice of appeal, thought her decision was stunning.

"She went out of her way to find an excuse to say that the law does not violate the Second Amendment when it comes to magazines," he told Newsmax.

And Immergu misapplied Supreme Court case law, according to Amy Swearer, Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow specializing in Second Amendment issues.

She told Newsmax that ultimately, "the test would come down to 'do we have a history of limiting magazine capacity?' And I think the answer is very clearly, no!" .....