Supreme Court won’t debate Maryland’s assault weapons ban — yet

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to take up a legal challenge to Maryland’s assault weapons ban ahead of a ruling from the appeals court.

Gun rights groups and advocates challenged the state’s ban on assault weapons, which prohibits the possession of the weapons and is punished by up to three years in prison.

The state defines an assault weapon as a rifle that can fire more than 10 rounds, is longer than 29 inches or has a folding stock, flash suppressor or flare launcher.

“Modern semiautomatic rifles such as the AR-15 ’traditionally have been widely accepted as lawful possessions,’ and today are owned in the tens of millions by law-abiding Americans for self-defense and other lawful purposes. Such arms simply cannot be banned,” the groups argued in their filing to the high court.

Without explanation, the justices declined the challenge. 

It would have taken four justices to vote in favor of hearing the case, Dominic Bianchi, et al., v. Anthony G. Brown, in His Official Capacity as Attorney General of Maryland, et al.

The state, which urged the justices not to hear the dispute ahead of the appeals court ruling, which had scheduled full-court arguments in March, said Supreme Court precedent allows military-style weapons like M-16 rifles to be banned.

“Consistent with that pronouncement, the state of Maryland, like nine other states and the District of Columbia, has prohibited possession of certain highly dangerous, military-style assault weapons, of the sort used in a series of highly publicized mass shootings,” the state’s brief read.

The case could come back to the justices after the appeals court issues its ruling. 

The justices also have an appeal pending out of Illinois, dealing with a similar ban, according to The Associated Press.

The justices previously declined to hear a challenge over the Maryland ban, but had ordered the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its handling of the case following the justices’ 2022 decision in Bruen v. New York Rifle & Pistol Association, which held that any gun control measure had to be consistent with the nation’s traditions and founding in order to not run afoul of the Second Amendment.