Supreme Court Delivers Key Ruling In Firearms Case
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up two major Second Amendment appeals this week, leaving in place lower court rulings involving Delaware’s ban on assault-style rifles and large-capacity magazines, as well as Maryland’s handgun licensing requirements.
The justices rejected appeals from gun owners and gun rights organizations that had asked the court to intervene in two closely watched cases dealing with firearm restrictions.
In the Delaware case, challengers sought to block the state’s ban on “assault weapons” and magazines capable of holding more than 17 rounds. The appeal followed a lower court’s refusal to issue a preliminary injunction against the law.
Reuters noted that such weapons have been used in several mass shootings in the United States, though FBI crime statistics show that handguns are used in the overwhelming majority of gun-related murders.
The Supreme Court also declined to hear a challenge brought by the gun rights group Maryland Shall Issue and other plaintiffs against Maryland’s handgun licensing law. The challengers argued the law burdens the Second Amendment, but a lower court ruled that the licensing requirement is consistent with the constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
While the justices passed on those two cases, they did not act on two other pending appeals. One challenges Maryland’s ban on assault weapons, while another challenges Rhode Island’s ban on large-capacity magazines.
The court’s refusal to take up the Delaware and Maryland cases comes despite its 6-3 conservative majority and a series of major gun rights rulings since 2008 that have emphasized an originalist understanding of the Second Amendment.
Delaware’s 2022 gun laws prohibit semiautomatic rifles classified by the state as assault weapons, including firearms such as AR-15 and AK-47-style rifles. The law allows people who owned the weapons before the ban to keep them if they meet certain requirements.
The state also banned large-capacity magazines, though devices owned before the law was enacted are treated differently under the statute.
The Delaware challenge was brought by residents who want to purchase the banned firearms or magazines, along with a gun dealer, the Firearms Policy Coalition, and the Second Amendment Foundation.
The plaintiffs argued that the lower courts were wrong to reject the view that “deprivation of Second Amendment rights necessarily constitutes an irreparable injury.”
In 2023, a federal judge denied the plaintiffs’ request for an injunction. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Philadelphia, upheld that decision in 2024.
The 3rd Circuit rejected the argument that an injunction was effectively required in the case, stating that “Preliminary injunctions are not automatic.”
“Instead, custom and history have long saved them for very special occasions.” “This is not a strange case,” the court said.
The Maryland case involved a 2013 law requiring most people to obtain a qualification license before purchasing a handgun. Applicants must submit fingerprints, complete training, and undergo a background check.
Gun rights advocates argued the process is too burdensome and that the requirement “can take a month or longer,” discouraging citizens from exercising their Second Amendment rights.
Maryland defended the law, arguing that fingerprinting and safety-course requirements “significantly improve public safety.”
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Richmond, Virginia, sided with the state.
For conservatives and gun rights supporters, the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the cases is disappointing, especially at a time when blue states continue testing the limits of firearm restrictions under the Second Amendment.
The court’s silence does not amount to an endorsement of Delaware’s or Maryland’s laws, but it does allow those lower court decisions to remain in effect for now.
The broader Second Amendment fight is far from over. The Supreme Court recently heard arguments in a case involving a 2022 Biden administration regulation targeting so-called “ghost guns,” which are privately assembled firearms that officials say are increasingly appearing in criminal investigations.
More Second Amendment decisions are expected by June, and gun rights advocates will be watching closely to see whether the court’s conservative majority is prepared to draw a firmer constitutional line against state-level firearm restrictions.
For now, the justices have left two controversial gun control measures standing, giving blue-state lawmakers a temporary victory while leaving major constitutional questions unresolved.