Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) tried to trip up Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing on Wednesday over the Second Amendment.
“I’ve been very interested in your thinking on assault weapons,” Feinstein told Kavanaugh. “You specifically argued that the D.C. assault weapons ban was unconstitutional and I think because you said these weapons were in common use. What did you base your conclusion that assault weapons are in common use and what evidence or study did you use to do that?”
National Review‘s David French explains that “a number of Democrats are well aware that if an assault-weapons-ban case is heard by the Supreme Court, then the ‘common use for lawful purpose’ standard is likely going to dictate the case. If it does, most assault-weapons bans will likely fall. After all, the AR-15 and its variants are the most popular rifles in America today, owned by millions of Americans yet rarely used in crime.”
Feinstein continued by claiming that “assault weapons are not in common use.”
Kavanaugh responded by noting that “semiautomatic handguns and semiautomatic rifles are widely possessed in the United States” and that “there are millions and millions and millions of semiautomatic rifles that are possessed.”
“You’re saying the numbers determine common use?” Feinstein replied. “Common use is an activity. It’s not common storage or possession, it’s use. So what you said is that these weapons are commonly used. They’re not.”
“They’re widely possessed in the United States, senator,” Kavanaugh replied. “And they are, they are used and possessed.”
Feinstein also falsely claimed that there have been “hundreds of school shootings using assault weapons that have taken place in recent history.”
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