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Chicago Tribune
3 days ago
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Supreme Court won't hear challenge to Maryland assault weapons ban
WASHINGTON — A split Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a challenge to a state ban on assault weapons, a term referring to semiautomatic rifles that are popular among gun owners and that have also been used in mass shootings. The majority did not explain its reasoning in turning down the case over weapons like the AR-15, as is typical. But three conservative justices on the nine-member court publicly noted their disagreement, and a fourth said he is skeptical that such bans are constitutional. Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch said they would have taken the case, and Justice Clarence Thomas wrote separately to say the law likely runs afoul of the Second Amendment. 'I would not wait to decide whether the government can ban the most popular rifle in America,' Thomas wrote. 'That question is of critical importance to tens of millions of law-abiding AR–15 owners throughout the country.' Justice Brett Kavanaugh agreed with the decision to pass on the case now but indicated that he is skeptical such bans are constitutional and that he expects the court will address the issue 'in the next term or two.' The Maryland law was passed after the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut that killed 20 children and six adults. The shooter was armed with an AR-15, one of the firearms commonly referred to as an assault weapon. Several states have similar measures, and congressional Democrats have also supported the concept. The challengers had argued that people have a constitutional right to own the firearms like the AR-15, which most gun owners use legally. The case comes nearly three years after the high court handed down a landmark ruling that expanded Second Amendment rights and spawned challenges to firearm laws around the country. Ten states and the District of Columbia have similar laws, covering major cities like New York and Los Angeles. Congress allowed a national assault weapons ban to expire in 2004. Attorneys for Maryland contend the guns aren't protected by the Constitution because they're similar to military-grade weapons. The law bans dozens of firearms — including the AR-15, the AK-47 and the Barrett .50-caliber sniper rifle — and puts a 10-round limit on gun magazines. The high court also rebuffed a bid to overturn state bans on high-capacity gun magazines in a separate case out of Rhode Island on Monday. Thomas, Alito and Gorsuch said they would have heard the case. More than a dozen states have similar laws limiting the amount of ammunition a magazine can hold. Thomas and Kavanaugh have previously expressed skepticism about assault weapon bans. As an appeals court judge in 2011, Kavanaugh wrote a dissent saying that a similar measure in Washington, D.C., was unconstitutional. Thomas, meanwhile, dissented in 2015 when the Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to a municipal ban on AR-15-style weapons, writing that the 'overwhelming majority' of people who owned the weapons used them for lawful purposes like self-defense. The high court in 2022 handed down a ruling that expanded gun rights and told lower-court judges they should no longer consider factors like public safety in deciding whether firearm laws are constitutional. Instead, they should focus on whether a law fits into the nation's historic tradition of gun ownership, the court said. That led to a flurry of challenges to gun laws around the country, multiple restrictions struck down, and confusion among lower-court judges over what gun laws can stay on the books. Since then, the Supreme Court has overturned a ban on rapid-fire gun accessories called bump stocks but upheld a law barring people under domestic-violence restraining orders from having guns and regulations on nearly untraceable ghost guns.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Supreme Court turns away a 2nd Amendment challenge to blue-state bans on assault weapons
A closely divided Supreme Court refused Monday to hear a 2nd Amendment challenge to the bans on semi-automatic rifles in Maryland, California and eight other blue states. Gun rights advocates say these AR-15s are owned by millions of Americans, and they argue the 2nd Amendment protects weapons that are "in common use by law-abiding citizens." But they fell one vote short of winning a hearing on the question before the Supreme Court. Three conservatives — Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito and Neil M. Gorsuch — voted to hear the 2nd Amendment challenge. But Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh refused for now to cast the key fourth vote. He called the lower court ruling upholding Maryland's ban "questionable," but agreed with the majority in turning down the appeal for now. "In my view, this court should and presumably will address the AR–15 issue soon, in the next Term or two," Kavanaugh said. The closely watched appeal had been pending since December, and the outcome suggests that the majority, including Chief Justice John G. Roberts, is not ready to strike down state laws that restrict semi-automatic guns. Monday's no-comment orders let stands law in Maryland and Rhode Island that forbid the sale or possession of "assault weapons" and large-capacity magazines. California adopted the nation's first ban on assault weapons in 1989. Since then, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Washington have enacted similar laws, all of which would have been struck down if Maryland's law were ruled unconstitutional. Lawmakers in California and nine other Democratic-led states say these rapid-fire weapons are especially dangerous and not needed for self-defense. Read more: Supreme Court rejects gun rights for people accused of domestic violence Maryland said its ban applies to "certain highly dangerous, military-style assault weapons of the sort used in a series of highly publicized mass shootings." The case tested the reach of the 2nd Amendment and its "right to keep and bear arms." For more than a decade, the justices have turned away gun-rights appeals that challenged local or state bans on assault weapons. In 2008, the court ruled for the first time that the 2nd Amendment protects an individual right to self-defense, but its constitutional rulings since then have been modest in their impact. The justices struck down city ordinances in Washington and Chicago laws that prohibited private possession of handguns, and they ruled states may not deny law-abiding citizens a permit to carry a concealed weapon. In opinion polls, most Americans are opposed to a ban on handgun possession but they support a ban on semi-automatic assault rifles. Maryland passed its ban on "assault weapons" after the mass shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, where 20 children and six school employees were killed. The law was upheld last year in an opinion written by a prominent conservative judge. Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, a Reagan appointee who was a finalist for a Supreme Court nomination in 2005, said the AR-15, AK-47 and similar rapid-fire rifles are not protected by the 2nd Amendment. "They are military-style weapons designed for sustained combat operations that are ill-suited and disproportionate to the need for self-defense," he wrote in a 9-5 decision by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. "We decline to wield the Constitution to declare that military-style armaments which have become primary instruments of mass killing and terrorist attacks in the United States are beyond the reach of our nation's democratic processes." Read more: Gun control laws in California may be challenged as Supreme Court expands the 2nd Amendment The dissenters said the 2nd Amendment protects the right to the "arms" that are in common use. "Today, the AR-15 and its variants are one of the most popular and widely owned firearms in the Nation," wrote Judge Julius Richardson, a Trump appointee. "As of 2021, there are at least 28 million AR-style semiautomatic rifles in circulation. For context, this means that there are more AR-style rifles in the civilian market than there are Ford F-Series pickup trucks on the road — the most popular truck in America." Three years ago, the court said in an opinion by Thomas that the 2nd Amendment should be interpreted based on the nation's history and tradition of gun regulations. However, the two sides in the Maryland case differed on what to glean from that history. Gun-rights advocates said there was no early history of laws banning common firearms. But some judges and state lawyers said the history shows that when new dangers arose—including stored gun powder, dynamite and machine guns—new restrictions were written into law. If so, that would support new laws adopted in response to the danger posed by rapid-fire weapons. The justices denied review in the case of Snope vs. Brown in the fall. Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter. Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond, in your inbox twice per week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Boston Globe
3 days ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Supreme Court won't hear challenge to Maryland assault weapons ban
'I would not wait to decide whether the government can ban the most popular rifle in America,' Thomas wrote. 'That question is of critical importance to tens of millions of law-abiding AR–15 owners throughout the country.' Advertisement Justice Brett Kavanaugh agreed with the decision to pass on the case now, but he said that he is skeptical that such bans are constitutional and that he expects the court will address the issue 'in the next term or two.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The Maryland law was passed after the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut that killed 20 children and six adults. The shooter was armed with an AR-15, one of the firearms commonly referred to as an assault weapon. Several states have similar measures, and congressional Democrats have also supported the concept. The challengers had argued that people have a constitutional right to own the firearms like the AR-15. The case comes three years after the high court handed down a landmark ruling that expanded Second Amendment rights and spawned challenges to firearm laws around the country. Advertisement Ten states and the District of Columbia have similar laws, covering major cities like New York and Los Angeles. Congress allowed a national assault weapons ban to expire in 2004.
San Francisco Chronicle
3 days ago
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Supreme Court won't hear challenge to Maryland assault weapons ban
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a challenge to a state ban on assault weapons, semiautomatic rifles that are popular among gun owners and have also been used in multiple mass shootings. The justices turned down a case against a Maryland law passed after the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut that killed 20 children and six adults. The shooter was armed with an AR-15, one of the firearms commonly referred to as an assault weapon. Three conservative justices, however, publicly noted that they would have taken the case, and a fourth said he is skeptical that such bans are constitutional, indicating the court could soon take another look at the issue. Several states have similar measures, and Congressional Democrats have also supported the concept. The challengers had argued that people have a constitutional right to own the firearms like the AR-15. The case comes two years after the high court handed down a landmark ruling that expanded Second Amendment rights and spawned challenges to firearm laws around the country. Ten states and the District of Columbia have similar laws, covering major cities like New York and Los Angeles. Congress allowed a national assault weapons ban to expire in 2004.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Supreme Court won't hear challenge to Maryland assault weapons ban
WASHINGTON (AP) — A split Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a challenge to a state ban on assault weapons, semiautomatic rifles that are popular among gun owners and that have also been used in multiple mass shootings. The majority did not explain its reasoning in turning down the case, as is typical. But three conservative justices on the nine-member court publicly noted their disagreement, and a fourth said he is skeptical that such bans are constitutional. Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch said they would have taken the case, and Justice Clarence Thomas wrote separately to say the law likely runs afoul of the Second Amendment. 'I would not wait to decide whether the government can ban the most popular rifle in America,' Thomas wrote. 'That question is of critical importance to tens of millions of law-abiding AR–15 owners throughout the country.' Justice Brett Kavanaugh agreed with the decision to pass on the case now, but he said that he is skeptical that such bans are constitutional and that he expects the court will address the issue 'in the next term or two.' The Maryland law was passed after the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut that killed 20 children and six adults. The shooter was armed with an AR-15, one of the firearms commonly referred to as an assault weapon. Several states have similar measures, and congressional Democrats have also supported the concept. The challengers had argued that people have a constitutional right to own the firearms like the AR-15. The case comes three years after the high court handed down a landmark ruling that expanded Second Amendment rights and spawned challenges to firearm laws around the country. Ten states and the District of Columbia have similar laws, covering major cities like New York and Los Angeles. Congress allowed a national assault weapons ban to expire in 2004. ___ Follow the AP's coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at
