The Supreme Court has declined to take up two gun rights cases, a disappointing development for those who support gun rights. However, there is still reason for hope — especially when it comes to legislation banning so-called “assault weapons.”
The two cases involved state bans on rifles like the AR-15 and similar legislation against “high-capacity magazines.” These represent some of the most controversial types of anti-gunner legislation passed at the state level.
From The Associated Press:
The majority did not explain its reasoning in turning down the cases over high-capacity magazines and state bans on guns like the AR-15, popular weapons that have also been used in mass shootings.
But three conservative justices on the nine-member court publicly noted their disagreement, and a fourth said he is skeptical that assault-weapons bans are constitutional.
Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch said they would have taken a case challenging Maryland’s ban, 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.”
The Firearms Policy Coalition issued a statement expressing its disappointment with the decision.
We are disappointed that some members of the Supreme Court did not have the judicial courage to do their most important job and enforce the Constitution. Like millions of peaceable gun owners across the country, we are frustrated that the Court continues to allow lower courts to treat the Second Amendment as a second-class right. But more than anything else, we are more resolved than ever to Fight Forward and eliminate these immoral bans throughout the nation, whatever and however long it takes.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also weighed in, saying the court is more concerned with protecting illegal immigrants than defending gun rights. “The Court has more urgency in bailing out illegal aliens than in upholding the rights of Americans — even in regards to an enumerated right in the Constitution,” he wrote in a post on X.
The Court has more urgency in bailing out illegal aliens than in upholding the rights of Americans — even in regards to an enumerated right in the Constitution. https://t.co/WfshsUostD
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) June 2, 2025
Second Amendment attorney Kostas Moros said the court “has forsaken us.”
Snope denied. The Supreme Court has forsaken us.
— Kostas Moros (@MorosKostas) June 2, 2025
Kavanaugh says they want more percolation, apparently. pic.twitter.com/LOmwms2WQh
However, despite agreeing with the decision not to take up the cases, Justice Brett Kavanaugh gave reason for hope, indicating that the Supreme Court would likely take up the issue in a later session. “Additional petitions for certiorari will likely be before this Court shortly and, in my view, this Court should and presumably will address the AR-15 issue soon, in the next Term or two,” he wrote.
🚨BREAKING🚨
— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) June 2, 2025
Supreme Court declines to hear cases challenging “assault weapons” bans & magazine limits. But, Justice Kavanaugh gives gun owners some hope with this statement:
"[T]his Court should and presumably will address the AR-15 issue soon, in the next Term or two." pic.twitter.com/LXq2zPw38Z
In his opinion, Kavanaugh explained that “it can be analytically difficult to distinguish the AR-15s at issue here from the handguns at issue in Heller.”
This is certainly not a welcome development for those who value the Second Amendment. At some point, bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines must be settled. The Court chose not to address the issue, which means that states criminalizing people like Dexter Taylor will be free to continue targeting law-abiding gun owners for exercising their right to keep and bear arms. Hopefully, we won't have to wait too much longer for the Court to settle the matter once and for all.
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