A Michigan court says there's no constitutional right to possess brass knuckles in the state. It is a weapon typically associated with violent ambushes in dark alleys and banned in nearly two dozen states.

The Michigan Court of Appeals, in an 18-page opinion, declined to interfere with a 1931 law that carries a five-year prison term for simply having brass knuckles, also known as metallic knuckles.

A “ban on the possession of metallic knuckles falls within the historical tradition of prohibiting the concealed carry of metallic knuckles as a dangerous and unusual weapon,” Judge Christopher Murray wrote in a 3-0 opinion Tuesday.

Brass knuckles are usually a single set of rings that fits on someone’s hand. A punch can inflict serious injuries.

  • uuldika@lemmy.ml
    5·
    2 days ago

    you’re right, apparently. from Wikipedia:

    The U.S. Army defines assault rifles as “short, compact, selective-fire weapons that fire a cartridge intermediate in power between submachine gun and rifle cartridges.”

    AR-15 is semi-auto rather than selective fire, so it’s not an assault rifle. I had mistakenly conflated assault rifles with “assault weapons,” which is a separate (and more vague and contested) term.

    you can still buy an M-16 or AK-47, but it has to be transferrable (grandfathered in before FOPA) and you need extra paperwork.

    • the_crotch
      4·
      2 days ago

      Lots of people make the same mistake. Clinton did this on purpose, so people would believe the 1994 assault weapon ban actually did anything of value.