In an appeal of a case the NRA filed in 2018, along with its state affiliate, the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit struck down New Jersey’s ban on “assault weapons” and “large capacity” ammunition magazines (those that can hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition) as unconstitutional.
This is the first time a federal appeals court has ruled that a state’s “assault-weapons” ban violates the Second Amendment; in fact, the U.S. Supreme Court will now have to settle conflicting rulings from federal circuit courts when it considers in the next term whether the estimated 24 million AR-style rifles and more than 100 million magazines that hold more than 10 rounds now owned by American civilians are indeed (or obviously) in common use and so therefore are constitutionally protected.
The Third Circuit—which covers Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey—en-banc ruling put it this way:
Applying the framework announced in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, we agree with the District Court that New Jersey’s ban on Colt AR-15s violates the Second Amendment. However, because the record supports the same result for all semi-automatic rifles—not only Colt AR-15s—we will MODIFY the District Court’s order so that it deems the Assault Firearm Provisions unconstitutional with respect to the full class of semi-automatic rifles. We will AFFIRM that part of the order as modified.
The LCM Provisions also violate the Second Amendment, so we will REVERSE the District Court’s order with respect to those. Because the LCM Provisions violate the Second Amendment, we need not address the Takings Clause challenge.
We will REMAND these matters to the District Court for further proceedings, including for resolution of the Second Amendment challenge to the other models and types of firearms covered by the Assault Firearm Provisions.
A few other federal courts have upheld “assault weapon” bans by claiming they’re somehow “dangerous and unusual” and that AR-type rifle are not often used for self-defense, but the Third Circuit rejected those claims by, in part, finding that AR-type and other semi-automatic rifles are in common use for lawful purposes. These popular semi-automatic rifles are therefore not “unusual” or even “unusually dangerous.” (Semi-automatics, of course, are a late 19th century invention and the AR-15 was first sold to the American public in the early 1960s.)
Indeed, this circuit court agreed that there are around 24 million AR-type semi-automatic rifles now in circulation in the U.S., which makes them very common indeed.
The state of New Jersey attempted to argue that the features on these popular semi-automatic rifles are from “weapons of war” and therefore should not be available for civilian use. But, of course, semi-automatics have been sold to the public for well over a century, along with magazines that can hold more than the arbitrary restriction on those that can be loaded with more than 10 rounds.
The Third Circuit, in this case, applied the text-and-history test set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court in the NRA’s landmark victory, NYSRPA v. Bruen (2022), and found New Jersey’s restrictions to be unconstitutional.
“Beginning with the Second Amendment’s text,” reported NRA-ILA, “the court concluded that both semiautomatic firearms and magazines qualify as ’Arms’ protected by the Second Amendment: semiautomatic firearms because they are firearms, and magazines because they are necessary to operate many firearms.”
Therefore, by striking down New Jersey’s bans, the Third Circuit became the highest-level court thus far in the nation to strike bans on these popular rifles as being unconstitutional.
“The decision represents a long and hard-fought victory for the NRA,” said NRA-ILA. The Third Circuit returned the case to the district court for further proceedings consistent with the Third Circuit’s ruling. The state of New Jersey, of course, can petition the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.
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