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

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge to Maryland’s ban on certain assault-style semiautomatic rifles, leaving the law in place for now.

The court did not elaborate on its decision, but it would be unusual for the justices to agree to take up the case since it is still being considered by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. The case could come before a judge again in the future.

The plaintiffs argue that banning semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15 violates the Second Amendment. Maryland’s attorney general defended the ban, noting that the gun in question was an “extremely dangerous military-style weapon” used in mass shootings.

Although this law has been challenged in court before, the landscape of gun challenges has changed significantly since the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen.

After refusing to hear a challenge to the ban in 2017, the justices ordered a lower court to reconsider the case in 2022. The court has not considered the case since then, and the plaintiffs argue that the Supreme Court should intervene because lower courts have decided the case before them. It took too long.

The state argues that lower courts should have an opportunity to weigh in before the Supreme Court intervenes.

The Associated Press contributed.