Anjali Dalal-Whelan / News Editor

On Oct. 25, a shooter opened-fire on a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston, Maine, killing 18 people and injuring 13 others. According to the New York Times the gunman in the shooting was found dead on Oct. 27, after a two-day manhunt. Officials say he legally purchased multiple guns just days before the attack and was in the Army Reserve. Owning assault weapons is legal in Maine. AP News reported on Maine’s gun laws.

“Maine is one of about 20 states that allow permitless carry — having a concealed weapon in public without a permit — and the state has a longstanding culture of gun ownership that is tied to its traditions of hunting and sport shooting.”

In a statement on the Lewiston, Maine, shooting, President Joe Biden called on the Republican-controlled Congress to pass federal gun restrictions.

“I urge Republican lawmakers in Congress to fulfill their duty to protect the American people. Work with us to pass a bill banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, to enact universal background checks, to require safe storage of guns and end immunity from liability for gun manufacturers.”

The Lewiston, Maine, shooting was the 31st “mass murder” by shooting of 2023 in the U.S., defined as the killing of four or more victims, not including the shooter — by the Gun Violence Archives.

A week prior on Oct. 19, a San Diego federal judge, Judge Roger Benitez, declared that California’s 34-year- old statewide ban on assault weapons is unconstitutional. California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta filed an appeal immediately after the decision, so for now, the law has not changed in practice/implementation.

When Bonta announced an appeal to the decision he stated that, “weapons of war have no place on California’s streets. This has been state law in California for decades, and we will continue to fight for our authority to keep our citizens safe from firearms that cause mass casualties.”

The California court case that resulted in the pending unban originated from a lawsuit in 2019 in which the San Diego Gun Owners group sued to overturn the California Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989. California has specific laws on what weapons are considered assault weapons, and are illegal for its citizens to own.

Judge Roger Benitez previously made the decision to repeal the assault weapons ban back in 2021. However, after the Supreme Court made a decision on gun rights in New York, the case was sent back to Benitez. Benitez came to the same conclusion as he did in 2021, when he ruled that the California Assault Weapons Control Act is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment, which protects the right to bear arms.

Benitez stated in the 79-page ruling that — although assault weapons can be used for mass shootings such as the recent shooting in Lewiston, Maine, and other notable shootings in Uvalde, Parkland and Pulse nightclub — Americans should not be “outgunned” by criminals.
The judge described multiple cases in which Americans used AR-15s to defend themselves and their families and how these assault rifles would allow people to defend themselves in equal measure.

In his last ruling in 2021 to unban assault weapons in California, Benitez compared assault weapons to a Swiss army knife.

In the introduction to the most recent ruling, he made a similar comparison: “like the bowie knife which was commonly carried by citizens and soldiers in the 1800s, ‘assault weapons’ are dangerous, but useful,” Judge Benitez stated.

This comment drew criticism from California Governor Gavin Newsom who in his own statement
said that, “today’s radical ruling — comparing an assault rifle to a bowie knife — is a direct insult to every victim of a mass shooting and their families.”

California’s ban on assault weapons is in the minority in the U.S. Only seven other states, as well as D.C., have similar assault weapon bans.

USD junior Sydney Smith respondedtothenewsofthejudge’s decision to potentially unban assault weapons in California.

“I definitely don’t think people should be owning assault weapons, I don’t think they should be bringing them in public places or around other people.” Smith said. “It’s disappointing that something that has been in place for so long is looking at suddenly being overturned when it’s in place to protect us.”

USD junior Addie Dursan had a similar reaction and mentioned the mass shooting in Maine last week.

“Especially with what happened in [Lewiston,] Maine, the fact that California is looking to overrule what we have [in California] to keep people safe is scary and sad.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), California in 2021 had the eighth lowest gun death rate in the U.S., and in his statement Governor Newsom attributed this to the state’s strict gun laws, such as the California Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989.

“California’s gun safety laws work and they keep our families safer — today, California’s gun death rate is 43% lower than the national average.”

Gun laws will continue to be a topic of discussion this fall amongst officials and the people it may impact, as the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hear a case on whether people charged with domestic violence should be allowed the right to bear arms.