WASHINGTON, DC—The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge to Maryland’s ban on assault weapons, including semiautomatic rifles like the AR-15, which are popular among gun owners but have been used in several mass shootings. The decision leaves the state’s law intact, though a divided court revealed sharp differences among the justices.

The majority offered no explanation for rejecting the case, consistent with standard practice. However, three conservative justices—Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas—publicly dissented, signaling their willingness to review the ban. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, while agreeing with the decision to pass on the case for now, expressed skepticism about the constitutionality of such bans and predicted the court would address the issue “in the next term or two.”

In a separate opinion, Justice Thomas argued that Maryland’s law likely violates the Second Amendment. “I would not wait to decide whether the government can ban the most popular rifle in America,” Thomas wrote, emphasizing the significance of the issue for “tens of millions of law-abiding AR-15 owners” nationwide.

Maryland’s law was enacted in response to the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut, where a gunman armed with an AR-15 killed 20 children and six adults. The state’s ban targets semiautomatic rifles commonly referred to as assault weapons. Ten other states and the District of Columbia, including major cities like New York and Los Angeles, have similar restrictions. A national assault weapons ban expired in 2004 after Congress declined to renew it.

The challengers argued that the Second Amendment protects their right to own firearms like the AR-15. The case follows a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that expanded Second Amendment protections, prompting numerous legal challenges to firearm restrictions across the country.

The court’s decision not to take up the Maryland case leaves the debate over assault weapons bans unresolved, with indications that the issue may return to the high court soon.

[Photo via Pixabay]

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