A federal appeals court has left intact Maryland’s ban on so-called assault weapons, including AR-15s.
The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled on Aug. 6 that the ban, which also covers AK-47s and Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifles, does not violate Marylanders’ rights.
The ban was enacted in 2013.
Some Maryland residents and gun rights groups sued Maryland in 2020, asserting the laws violate their right to possess guns as enumerated by the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment.
“The state of Maryland’s laws, regulations, policies, practices, and customs individually and collectively deny millions of individuals who reside in Maryland, including plaintiffs, their members and supporters, and others like them, their fundamental, individual right to keep and bear common arms,” they said in the lawsuit.
A U.S. district judge dismissed the suit, pointing to the Fourth Circuit’s 2017 ruling in Kolbe v. Hogan which upheld the regulations.
The full Fourth Circuit agreed to adjudicate the matter.
In the court’s decision on Tuesday, the majority said it took up the case with an eye on the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling that struck down New York gun laws as too restrictive. Justices set forth how courts must analyze challenges to firearm regulations, including the need to see if they’re based on the nation’s historical tradition of restrictions.
“Moreover, the Maryland law fits comfortably within our nation’s tradition of firearms regulation. It is but another example of a state regulating excessively dangerous weapons once their incompatibility with a lawful and safe society becomes apparent, while nonetheless preserving avenues for armed self-defense,” he added.
Chief U.S. Circuit Judge Albert Diaz in a concurring opinion noted that AR-15s have been used by mass shooters. He wrote that “the Constitution should anchor” but that “we refuse today to shackle Maryland’s representatives as they work in good faith to stop the bloodshed.”
He wrote: “The Second Amendment is not a second-class right subject to the whimsical discretion of federal judges. Its mandate is absolute and, applied here, unequivocal. Appellants seek to own weapons that are indisputably ‘arms’ within the plain text of the Second Amendment. While history and tradition support the banning of weapons that are both dangerous and unusual, Maryland’s ban cannot pass constitutional muster as it prohibits the possession of arms commonly possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes. In holding otherwise, the majority grants states historically unprecedented leeway to trammel the constitutional liberties of their citizens.”
Maryland officials have not yet reacted to the ruling.
The Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), one of the groups that brought the suit, said it would be asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision.
“FPC will take the Fourth Circuit’s terrible decision to the Supreme Court without delay. Our objective is simple: End all bans on so-called ‘assault weapons’ nationwide. And we look forward to doing just that,” FPC President Brandon Combs said in a statement.
The ruling came several days after U.S. District Judge George Russell ruled that provisions of another Maryland law are unconstitutional.
The judge also said that other provisions, including barring gun owners from carrying firearms in state parks and museums, did not violate the constitutional rights of gun owners.
