Washington — The Supreme Court on Monday declined to challenge Maryland's ban on so-called assault weapons, allowing legal proceedings in the dispute to proceed.
By not joining the legal battle at this time, Maryland's law will remain in effect for the time being. The ban's challengers had asked the Supreme Court to hear their case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled on whether the restriction is permissible under the Second Amendment. The full 4th Circuit heard arguments in late March but has not yet made a decision. The dispute will likely end up back in the Supreme Court once the appeals court rules.
Maryland's ban on certain semiautomatic rifles was enacted in response to the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Under the law, it is a crime to possess, sell, transfer or purchase an 'assault long gun', which includes 45 specific weapons or their analogues. There are still a variety of semi-automatic pistols and rifles AllowedThis was reported by the Maryland State Police.
In addition to Maryland, nine other states and the District of Columbia have passed laws restricting semiautomatic weapons.
A group of Maryland residents seeking to purchase semiautomatic rifles covered by the ban, a licensed gun dealer in the state and several pro-Second Amendment groups challenged the law in 2020, arguing that it violates the Second Amendment.
The 4th Circuit had upheld the law once before, and the Supreme Court declined to review that decision. As a result of the previous appeal ruling, a federal court dismissed the case. But it again ended up before the Supreme Court, which sent the dispute back to lower courts for further proceedings in light of a 2022 ruling that expanded the reach of the Second Amendment.
In that decision, the Supreme Court outlined a framework within which gun laws must be consistent with the country's historical tradition of firearms regulation. That statement has headed lower courts to invalidate several long-standing gun restrictions that failed the so-called history-and-tradition test.
The Supreme Court heard a case in November arising from one such case, in which a federal appeals court invalidated a 30-year-old law that bars people who are victims of domestic violence from owning firearms. No ruling has yet been issued in the case, but the ruling is expected to provide more guidance on how courts should apply the Supreme Court's new standard.
The pro-gun rights challengers asked the Supreme Court to intervene and rush the appeals court, which rarely happens. They argued that the issue is of “urgent importance.”
“A fundamental right is at stake, the appropriate outcome is clear, and the conduct of the lower courts indicates that this court's intervention is likely necessary to vindicate that fundamental right,” the groups argued.
They urged the Supreme Court to take up the case before the 4th Circuit ruled “to make clear once and for all that the most popular guns in the nation's history are protected by the Second Amendment.”
But Maryland officials urged the justices to deny the request to revise the firearms law, arguing that it is too early for them to intervene in the dispute. They also said the Supreme Court's new standard for reviewing the constitutionality of gun laws bans certain semiautomatic rifles.
The assault weapons ban survives constitutional scrutiny “because it is consistent with our Nation's historic tradition of firearms regulation, which includes the regulation of new weapons that pose an increased risk to public safety,” wrote Attorney General of Maryland, Anthony Brown.
