Supreme Court Turns Away Two Firearms-Related Cases
The U.S. Supreme Court has opted not to review appeals challenging Delaware’s ban on assault-style rifles and large-capacity ammunition magazines, along with a separate case concerning Maryland’s handgun licensing requirements.
By rejecting these cases, the Court avoided engaging with two pivotal legal battles tied to the ongoing debate over gun rights in America.
The justices declined to take up an appeal filed by firearm enthusiasts and gun rights organizations, who were seeking to halt Delaware’s prohibition on “assault weapons” and magazines capable of holding more than 17 rounds. This appeal followed a lower court’s refusal to grant a preliminary injunction in their favor.
According to Reuters, these types of firearms have been used in several high-profile mass shootings across the United States. However, data from the FBI indicates that the majority of gun-related homicides are committed using handguns.
Additionally, the Court turned down a separate appeal from the gun rights group Maryland Shall Issue, along with other plaintiffs. They were challenging a lower court’s decision that upheld Maryland’s handgun licensing law as compliant with the Second Amendment’s right to keep and bear arms.
Although the Supreme Court declined to review these two cases, the justices have not yet addressed appeals concerning Maryland’s ban on assault weapons or a case in Rhode Island focused on restrictions related to large-capacity magazines.
Despite the Court’s conservative 6-3 majority, which has regularly applied originalist principles to Second Amendment cases since 2008, these particular matters were left unresolved.
Delaware implemented its gun safety legislation in 2022, which outlaws several semi-automatic “assault” rifles, including models like the AR-15 and AK-47. However, individuals who possessed these weapons prior to the law’s enactment are allowed to keep them under specific conditions. The law also bans large-capacity magazines, including those already owned before the legislation took effect.
The plaintiffs in the Delaware case consist of residents wishing to purchase the restricted firearms or magazines, a licensed firearms dealer, the Firearms Policy Coalition, and the Second Amendment Foundation.
These challengers argue that lower courts wrongly dismissed their claim that a “deprivation of Second Amendment rights necessarily constitutes an irreparable injury.” In 2023, a federal judge denied their request for an injunction. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, located in Philadelphia, upheld that decision in 2024.
The 3rd Circuit questioned the assertion that an injunction was essentially mandatory in this context. “Preliminary injunctions are not automatic,” the court wrote.
“Rather, tradition and precedent have long reserved them for extraordinary situations. We see nothing extraordinary here,” the ruling added.
In Maryland, a law passed in 2013 requires most residents to obtain a qualification license before they can legally purchase a handgun. This process involves fingerprinting, completing a training course, and passing a background check.
Opponents of the law argue that the requirements impose excessive burdens and discourage lawful gun ownership, especially since the process “can take a month or longer.” The state, however, defends the licensing system, asserting that its fingerprinting and training requirements deliver “significant public safety benefits.” The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Richmond, Virginia, sided with Maryland and upheld the law.
Separately, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in October concerning a 2022 federal rule introduced by the Biden administration targeting “ghost guns”—untraceable firearms that have become increasingly tied to criminal activity. A ruling on that case is expected by the end of June.
On March 4, the justices will also hear arguments in a case involving U.S. firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson and wholesaler Interstate Arms. Both companies are seeking dismissal of a lawsuit filed by Mexico, which accuses them of facilitating the illegal flow of firearms to Mexican drug cartels.
In a notable decision last year, the Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on “bump stock” devices, which enable semi-automatic firearms to mimic the firing rate of machine guns. The Court has also overturned major gun control laws in landmark rulings issued in 2008, 2010, and 2022, according to Reuters.