Usa: judge overturns assault weapons ban in California

 A US federal judge overturned a 32-year ban on assault rifles in the state of California.

A decision made by Judge Roger T. Benitez, in compliance with the second amendment to the US Constitution on the freedom to bear arms, and criticized by California Governor Gavin Newsom in light of the growth in the phenomenon of shootings and massacres.

    "Like the Swiss army knife, the popular Ar-15 semi-automatic rifle can serve just as well to defend one's home and homeland," Judge Benitez writes in a passage of the 90-page motivation for the sentence. "Weapons and ammunition in the hands of criminals, tyrants and terrorists are dangerous. It is preferable to leave them in the hands of responsible and law-abiding citizens."

    The ruling gives the State of California 30 days to appeal: an opportunity that Newsom has already said it does not want to miss, as in its opinion the ruling, which overrides a ban in effect since 1989, constitutes a "direct threat to public security".