A federal appeals court upheld Maryland's “assault weapons” ban last week, but the case could go to the Supreme Court, where gun rights advocates are highly hopeful of a ruling that could overturn gun restrictions across the country.
On August 6, the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 10-5 that Maryland's 2013 assault weapons ban, enacted in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, is constitutional, with Judge James Wilkinson writing that so-called “assault weapons” are “inappropriate and disproportionate to the need for self-defense.” On the day of the ruling, the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced that it plans to appeal to the Supreme Court along with the plaintiffs.
“In this case, semi-automatic rifles are very clearly 'weapons' under the clear definition of the Second Amendment, and Maryland has the burden of showing a historical parallel for its ban,” Cody Wisniewski, president and CEO of the FPC Action Foundation, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The state cannot do that for several reasons. One of them is that the only valid historical parallel the Supreme Court has identified for a weapons ban is that the weapons are 'dangerous and unusual.' But that's not the case because these rifles are in common use by millions of people.” (RELATED: Kamala Harris once called for a mandatory buyback of 'assault weapons'. Experts say it's not that simple.)
The Supreme Court will begin oral arguments in October of this year. According to on the session schedule for October 2024. Wisniewski said he expects the Supreme Court to hear the case again after dismissing it during the last session because the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has made a final decision on the facts of the case.
“justice [Clarence] “Thomas noted that all of the cases at the time were in what's called an intermediate position because they were being heard by the court prior to a final decision by the circuit court,” Wisniewski told DCNF. “We recognize that now is the right time for the court to step in and address this issue.”
Gun rights advocate Todd Vandermyde, a consultant for plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging Illinois's ban on certain magazines, told The Center Square there are significant problems with the 4th Circuit's decision and that the Supreme Court will likely hear the case.
“This goes against the general use test and completely contradicts everything that has been repeatedly stated and said about modern guns being protected.” [previous Supreme Court precedent]”The situation is so bad that they will accept it,” Vandermyde said. said Center Square.
The Bianchi v. Brown lawsuit was filed in December 2020 and was joined by individual plaintiffs, FPC, the Second Amendment Foundation, and the Citizens' Right to Keep and Bear Arms Committee. According to The NRA said in court filings that its initial petition for leave to appeal was denied by the Supreme Court in May and that it will likely wait until the Fourth Circuit decides, which would provide a more comprehensive record in the case.
An AR-15-style Smith & Wesson M&P-15 semi-automatic rifle is displayed during the National Rifle Association (NRA) annual meeting at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas, May 28, 2022. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
The decision has been met with much criticism, particularly from five dissenting judges on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, in which Judge Jay Richardson wrote that the ruling was improper in holding that AR-15s and other “assault weapons” fall within the Second Amendment's definition of a “weapon” and are therefore entitled to the same protections.
“The Second Amendment is not a second-class right subject to the whims of federal judges,” Richardson wrote. “Its mandate is absolute and, as applied here, unequivocal.”
Wisniewski added that if the Supreme Court were to rule against Maryland's law, the court's conservatives would likely take inspiration from Richardson's dissent and consider its arguments.
“When there is a very persuasive and well-thought-out dissent, as in this case, I am confident that it will be conveyed to the Supreme Court,” Wisniewski told DCNF. “I think it is almost certain that the Supreme Court will review the dissent, and in the process, there is certainly the possibility that it will influence the Supreme Court's opinion and decision.”
Gun control groups argue, as the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled, that “assault weapons” are not protected by the Second Amendment. Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control group, said: Written It filed an amicus brief in February in support of Maryland's ban, saying the 2022 Brune decision applies to weapons commonly used in self-defense and that the plaintiffs in the case have not met their “burden to prove that a regulated assault weapon is commonly used in self-defense.”
“We are pleased that the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals saw reason and ruled to protect Marylanders from these instruments of mass violence,” said Bill Taylor, Everytown's vice director of Second Amendment litigation. said In a press release, they said: “Following the Supreme Court's rulings in the Bruen and Rahimi cases,, “We have seen an overwhelming trend of lower court decisions upholding these important laws, and we will fight to make sure that trend continues.”
The Maryland Attorney General's Office did not immediately respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation's request for comment.
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