Supreme Court declines to hear challenge to Maryland ban on assault-style weapons

The Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to Maryland’s ban on certain assault-style semi-automatic weapons Monday, leaving the law in place for the time being.

The court did not elaborate on its decision, but it would have been unusual for justices to agree to take up the case because the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals Court is still weighing it. The case could return to the justices in the future.

Plaintiffs argue the ban on semi-automatic weapons, like AR-15s, violates the Second Amendment. Maryland’s attorney general defended the ban, noting the guns in question are “highly dangerous, military-style weapons” that have been used in mass shootings.

The law has been challenged in court before, but the landscape for gun challenges has changed drastically since the 2022 Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.

After declining to hear a challenge to the ban in 2017, the justices ordered the lower court to revisit the case in 2022. The court has not weighed in on the matter since, and the plaintiffs argue the Supreme Court should step in because the lower court has taken too long.

The state argues the lower court should have a chance to weigh in before the Supreme Court intervenes.

The Associated Press contributed.