Supreme Court rejects challenge to Maryland's assault weapons ban

Remaining SCOTUS cases

These pivotal Supreme Court cases are inactive pending 01:51

Washington — The Supreme Court connected Monday turned distant a situation to Maryland's prohibition connected alleged battle weapons, leaving intact a little tribunal ruling that upheld the law.

In declining to reappraisal the determination from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, the precocious tribunal skirts a combat implicit whether the Second Amendment allows states to modulate the rifles that person been utilized successful a question of wide shootings. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch disagreed with the Supreme Court's determination to crook distant the case.

The Supreme Court had already turned away the ineligible conflict implicit Maryland's instrumentality past twelvemonth due to the fact that a national appeals tribunal had yet to rule. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit upheld the measurement past August, uncovering that weapons similar the AR-15 could beryllium banned successful portion due to the fact that they are extracurricular the scope of the Second Amendment.

Maryland's prohibition connected definite semiautomatic rifles was enacted successful the aftermath of the 2012 shooting astatine Sandy Hook Elementary School successful Newtown, Connecticut. Under the law, it is simply a transgression to possess, sell, transportation oregon acquisition an "assault agelong gun" oregon a "copycat weapon," which encompasses 45 circumstantial guns oregon their analogues. A assortment of semiautomatic handguns and rifles are inactive allowed, according to the Maryland State Police.

In summation to Maryland, 9 different states and the District of Columbia person enacted laws restricting semiautomatic weapons.

A radical of Maryland residents who privation to bargain rifles covered by the ban, a licensed weapon trader successful the authorities and respective pro-Second Amendment groups challenged the instrumentality successful 2020, arguing that they person a Second Amendment close to ain communal battle rifles.

The national territory tribunal and U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit upheld the law, likening the banned firearms to the M-16 rifle, which the Supreme Court has said is extracurricular the scope of Second Amendment protection. 

The Maryland challengers asked the Supreme Court to reappraisal that decision, and the precocious tribunal enactment information connected clasp portion it decided different weapon lawsuit involving concealed transportation rules successful New York. In that ruling issued successful June 2022, the Supreme Court laid retired a model nether which weapon laws indispensable beryllium accordant with the nation's humanities contented of firearms regulation. 

That determination has led little courts to invalidate respective long-standing weapon restrictions recovered not to conscionable the alleged history-and-tradition test.

Following its determination successful that landmark weapon case, the Supreme Court sent the situation to Maryland's battle weapons backmost to the appeals tribunal to reconsider the case.

After applying that caller model to Maryland's ban, the 4th Circuit concluded past twelvemonth that the battle weapons prohibition is constitutional. Focusing connected the AR-15 successful particular, the appeals tribunal recovered that it is astir utile successful subject work and tin beryllium banned accordant with the Second Amendment.

It besides rejected the challengers' contention that due to the fact that the guns covered by Maryland's prohibition are commonly used, they are protected by the Constitution. Instead, the 4th Circuit said adopting this statement would mean that immoderate unsafe limb "could summation law extortion simply due to the fact that it becomes fashionable earlier the authorities tin sufficiently modulate it."

The appeals tribunal besides said that the prohibition is accordant with the nation's humanities contented of firearms regulation, arsenic it "is 1 of galore successful a storied contented of legislatures perceiving threats posed by excessively unsafe weapons and regulating commensurately."

The challengers again sought the Supreme Court's review, arguing successful a filing that the justices should "ensure that the Second Amendment itself is not truncated into a constricted close to ain definite state-approved means of idiosyncratic self-defense."

They argued the AR-15 is the astir fashionable firearm successful the U.S. and said the 4th Circuit's ruling "turns a firearm possessed for lawful purposes by millions of Americans into an point with not adjacent presumptive law protection."

But Maryland officials urged the tribunal to permission the 4th Circuit's ruling intact, successful portion due to the fact that they said it's excessively soon for the Supreme Court to intervene.