Weapons Ownership

In the Crime Watch column of July 19, Ventura Police Sgt. George Morris expresses a popular point of view regarding civilian ownership of the SKS Sporter, one of several assault rifles recently banned under state legislation: “There really is no legitimate reason to possess that gun. It’s an assault weapon.”

However, the U.S. Supreme Court, in its only 2nd Amendment decision of this century (U.S. vs. Miller), ruled that a simple shotgun taken across state lines was a violation of federal law precisely because it was not an assault weapon! The Supreme Court found, “It is not within judicial notice that a [shotgun] is any part of the ordinary military equipment or that its use could contribute to the common defense.”

In other words, the Supreme Court ruled that the only type of weapons the 2nd Amendment intended for possession by “the people,” so that they may constitute “a well-regulated militia,” is those most obviously used in and suited to a military context--precisely the kind of firearms now being banned by the state of California!

JAMES RUSH, Ojai