U.S. appeals court to rehear case on Maryland assault-weapon ban

The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit has agreed to rehear a case that could potentially deal a blow to a Maryland gun control law that bans assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh asked the full 15-member court to hear arguments en banc after a three-judge panel in February ruled that the ban “significantly burdens the exercise of the right to arm oneself at home.” The panel, in a 2-1 ruling, ordered that the case be sent back to the original district judge for reconsideration under stricter constitutional standards.

On Friday, the 4th Circuit issued an order granting the motion for the full hearing. Arguments are scheduled for May 11 at the court in Richmond.

Maryland’s ban was enacted in 2013 in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. It prohibits the sale or ownership of 45 types of military-style rifles, and of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

In the original appellate ruling, the court found that the U.S. Supreme Court established the precedent that individuals do have a fundamental right to own firearms and that Maryland’s law appears to be a ban on entire classifications of weapons. The court majority said laws that go that far must be subjected to the strictest scrutiny — which requires a law to be narrowly tailored and the least restrictive means to further a compelling government interest — something the lower court didn’t do.

“This is not a finding that Maryland’s law is unconstitutional,” Chief Judge William B. Traxler Jr. wrote. “It is simply a ruling that the test of its constitutionality is different from that used by the district court.”

A spokesman for Mr. Frosh said Friday that the office was pleased by the decision.

“We think there is a better chance that the 4th Circuit, hearing it as a whole, will make the same decision that other circuits have made when they have decided on similar provisions,” spokesman David Nitkin said.

Attorneys for the gun shops and plaintiffs who brought the original lawsuit could not be immediately reached Friday for comment.