DOVER, Del. (AP) – Lawyers for gun rights groups told a federal appeals court Monday that a judge refused to block enforcement of a Delaware law banning certain semi-automatic firearms and limiting the size of firearm magazines. asked to overturn.
In 2022, Delaware’s Democratic-led General Assembly enacted legislation that would ban the sale of several types of semi-automatic firearms and shotguns and limit the number of rounds in their magazines to 17 rounds.
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U.S. District Judge Richard Andrews rejected the opponents’ request for a preliminary injunction to halt enforcement of the law until the court decides whether it is unconstitutional. The Delaware Sportsmen’s Association, joined by other gun rights advocates, argues that the law violates Delawareans’ constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
Andrews ruled last year that the firearms and high-capacity magazines covered by the law are presumptively protected by the Second Amendment. Nevertheless, he said the country had sufficient evidence that the weapons and magazines “suggested dramatic technological changes and unprecedented public safety concerns” and ordered the injunction. refused to issue.
Opponents of the DE law, which is being considered by an appeals court, argue that the law violates Second Amendment rights.
Mr. Andrews concluded that the gun control was consistent with the historical tradition of gun control in the United States and that opponents had failed to demonstrate a likelihood of winning the case. He also said his opponent failed to show that he could not adequately protect himself with other firearms.
Delaware is one of nine states, along with the District of Columbia, that have banned certain semi-automatic weapons, dubbed “assault weapons” by gun control advocates. Delaware is one of 14 states, along with the District of Columbia, that limit the size of magazines for semi-automatic rifles. In this legal battle, several states filed “friend of the court” briefs on both sides of the issue.
“Every second that Delaware law goes into effect, plaintiffs are denied the ability to exercise their Second Amendment rights,” said John Ohlendorf, an attorney representing the Firearms Policy Coalition and other appellants. He spoke before a three-judge panel in Philadelphia.
David Ross, an attorney hired by Delaware officials, said Andrews was right to deny the preliminary injunction because the plaintiffs could not prove they had suffered irreparable harm under the law.
Ross and other supporters of the law also argue that the law should be declared unconstitutional because it targets weapons and high-capacity magazines commonly used and owned by millions of Americans. rejected that claim.
“Common use is not and cannot be the sole standard for Second Amendment analysis,” argued New Jersey Attorney General Jeremy Feigenbaum.
Rather, the law’s supporters say the key question is whether the firearms in question are commonly used for self-defense. The answer, they argue, is no.
“Your prototype hunting rifle would be useful for self-defense, in stark contrast to high-capacity magazines and assault weapons,” Feigenbaum said.
Justice Jane Ross took up the issue of self-defence, stating that it is not sufficient to simply say that prohibited firearms can be used for self-defense purposes, rather than showing that they are commonly used for self-defense purposes. He suggested that enough was enough.
“We don’t know if these automatic assault weapons are being used for self-defense,” Ross said, incorrectly describing the firearms in question as fully automatic machine guns.
Erin Murphy, an attorney representing the Delaware Sportsmen’s Association and the National Shooting Sports Foundation, quickly corrected Ross.
Murphy said the argument that weapons can be banned because they are not normally used for self-defense runs counter to U.S. Supreme Court rulings. She said the court rejected her idea that possession of semi-automatic handguns for self-defense could be prohibited as long as possession of other firearms is permitted. Murphy also argued that “portable arms” that are portable and can be used for self-defense are protected by the Second Amendment.
“There’s no argument that a firearm is no longer a weapon just because it has features like semi-automatic capability or a removable magazine,” she says.
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Restrictions on gun possession have come under increasing legal scrutiny following a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision that established new standards for courts to evaluate such restrictions. The court said judges should no longer consider whether laws restricting gun ownership serve a public interest, such as enhancing public safety. Instead, government officials must prove that proposed regulations are consistent with the country’s “historic tradition of firearms regulation.”
The decision prompted the court to overturn a law aimed at keeping guns away from domestic abusers, felons and marijuana users. Earlier this year, the Third Circuit ruled that nonviolent offenders should not be subject to lifetime gun bans. The ruling came in the case of a man who was barred from purchasing guns after pleading guilty in 1995 to misrepresenting his income to receive food stamps for his family.
