livingston
20×102mm Vulcan
High court justices press attorneys over high-capacity magazine ban
white nationalist’s challenge of the constitutionality of a state law banning high-capacity magazines is now in the hands of the Vermont Supreme Court.
The five-member court heard competing arguments Tuesday over the constitutionality of the provision enacted as part of a package of historic restrictions on firearms. The hearing lasted approximately an hour.
It’s the first case reaching the state’s highest court over the measures approved by the Democratically controlled Legislature and signed into law by Republican Gov. Phil Scott more than two years ago in response to a thwarted school shooting in Fair Haven in early 2018.
At issue Tuesday was a provision of the law setting limits for magazine sizes at 15 rounds for handguns and 10 rounds for long guns.
While the criminal case leading to the constitutional challenge was brought by prosecutors against Max Misch, an admitted white supremacist from Bennington, his name was barely mentioned during the arguments that took place via video before the Vermont Supreme Court.
Instead, the attorneys battled over whether the charges against him for allegedly illegally possessing high-capacity magazines withstood constitutional muster, with justices frequently jumping in with pointed questions aimed at one side and the other over rights and guns.
“If the right is subject to reasonable limitation, do you agree that there is a point at which a restriction could become unreasonable,” Justice Harold Eaton asked Vermont Solicitor General Benjamin Battles of the state’s attorney general’s office.
white nationalist’s challenge of the constitutionality of a state law banning high-capacity magazines is now in the hands of the Vermont Supreme Court.
The five-member court heard competing arguments Tuesday over the constitutionality of the provision enacted as part of a package of historic restrictions on firearms. The hearing lasted approximately an hour.
It’s the first case reaching the state’s highest court over the measures approved by the Democratically controlled Legislature and signed into law by Republican Gov. Phil Scott more than two years ago in response to a thwarted school shooting in Fair Haven in early 2018.
At issue Tuesday was a provision of the law setting limits for magazine sizes at 15 rounds for handguns and 10 rounds for long guns.
While the criminal case leading to the constitutional challenge was brought by prosecutors against Max Misch, an admitted white supremacist from Bennington, his name was barely mentioned during the arguments that took place via video before the Vermont Supreme Court.
Instead, the attorneys battled over whether the charges against him for allegedly illegally possessing high-capacity magazines withstood constitutional muster, with justices frequently jumping in with pointed questions aimed at one side and the other over rights and guns.
“If the right is subject to reasonable limitation, do you agree that there is a point at which a restriction could become unreasonable,” Justice Harold Eaton asked Vermont Solicitor General Benjamin Battles of the state’s attorney general’s office.
High court justices press attorneys over high-capacity magazine ban
Lawyers presented oral arguments before the Vermont Supreme Court over the constitutionality of the criminal charges against Max Misch, a self-admitted white supremacist from Bennington.
vtdigger.org
