Topline
The Supreme Court ruled Monday to let two state gun control laws remain in place, as the 6-3 conservative court declined to take up challenges to Maryland’s assault weapons ban and Rhode Island’s ban on high-capacity magazines.
Gun control supporters protest outside the US Supreme Court on December 2, 2019.
AFP via Getty ImagesKey Facts
Justices declined to take up cases concerning Maryland’s ban on all “assault weapons”—including popular semiautomatic weapons like the AR-15—and Rhode Island’s ban on gun owners possessing magazines that contain more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
The cases could have significantly expanded Americans’ gun rights and restricted state laws on gun control had the court taken up the disputes and ruled the bans violated the Second Amendment.
Justices’ decisions mean that both bans will stay in place, though it’s still possible the court could decide to take up other challenges to those laws or similar state gun control laws in the future.
Justices ruled 6-3 against taking up both cases, with Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch disagreeing.
Thomas issued a dissent opposing the court’s decision not to take up Maryland’s assault weapons ban, saying he “cannot see how AR-15s fall outside the Second Amendment’s protections.”
Justice Brett Kavanaugh also issued an opinion on the case, saying while he respects the court’s decision not to weigh in on Maryland’s assault weapons ban, he thought the appeals court’s ruling was “questionable” and the decision not to take it up “does not mean that the Court agrees with a lower-court decision or that the issue is not worthy of review.”
What To Watch For
Kavanaugh predicted Monday the court will soon consider the question of whether assault weapons bans are unconstitutional, even though they decided not to take up the Maryland case. “Additional petitions … 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,” the justice wrote.
Chief Critic
“I would not wait to decide whether the government can ban the most popular rifle in America,” Thomas wrote in his dissent against the court rejecting the Maryland case, arguing the question of whether the firearms are legal “is of critical importance to tens of millions of law-abiding AR–15 owners throughout the country,” and adding that, “Until we are vigilant in enforcing it, the right to bear arms will remain ‘a second-class right.’”
Big Number
9. That’s the number of states, including Maryland, that have assault weapons bans in place, as compiled by pro-gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Washington. Fourteen states have laws in place restricting high-capacity magazines, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
Key Background
Gun control and the Second Amendment have become a hot-button topic at the Supreme Court in recent years, both as gun violence continues to be a major issue in the U.S. and as the court has issued sweeping opinions on gun rights. The court broadly expanded Second Amendment rights in 2022 with a ruling against New York’s restrictions on concealed carry. Justices ruled states can’t enact gun restrictions unless they’re rooted in some kind of historical precedent from the nation’s founding, paving the way for numerous gun laws to get challenged in court. The Supreme Court did rule last year to preserve restrictions on domestic abusers owning guns, though justices also struck down a ban on “bump stocks” that allow firearms to function as automatic weapons. They also ruled earlier this term in favor of Biden-era regulations on “ghost guns” that are sold as kits and gun owners assemble themselves. The court is expected to decide this month whether the Mexican government can sue major U.S. firearm companies for allegedly aiding and abetting Mexico’s drug cartels.
Further Reading
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