The United States Supreme Court will not hear a challenge to a law in Maryland that bans so-called “assault weapons.”
The decision to not hear the case leaves the ban in place for the time being. Reportedly, the court currently has an appeal pending regarding a similar law in Illinois targeting sporting rifles like AR-15s, AK-47s and M16s.
In 2022, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in the case New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn. vs. Bruen, which struck down a gun control law in New York. As a result, many left wing states, like California and Maryland, signed gun control measures in response (via NBC):
The Maryland law bans what the state defines as “assault weapons” akin to weapons of war like the M16 rifle. Banned firearms include the AR-15. The state law was enacted in 2013 in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook school shooting, in which 20 children and six adults were killed the previous year.
That law was challenged in previous litigation and upheld by the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. But a new set of plaintiffs filed a lawsuit following the 2022 gun rights ruling, and the Supreme Court ordered the appeals court to take a second look at the issue.
Plaintiffs, which includes commercial firearms dealers, gun rights groups and several Maryland residents, argued that the law violated the Second Amendment. According to The Hill, the justices declined to hear a challenge to the ban in 2017. Then, the justices ordered a lower court to revisit the case in 2022. The court has not yet weighed in on the matter.
Reuters noted that the Supreme Court is expected to rule by the end of June in two major cases surrounding gun rights. In one case, the justices will rule on a federal law barring people under domestic violence restraining orders from having guns. The second case is a challenge to a federal ban on "bump stocks.”
Late last month, the Supreme Court announced that it would hear a case surrounding President Joe Biden’s policies cracking down on “ghost guns,” which Townhall covered.