SCOTUS won’t review state bans of weapons, magazines

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear challenges to state bans on assault rifles and high-capacity ammunition magazines. The court turned away two cases from Maryland and Rhode Island. The Maryland case was a challenge to the state’s near-total ban on assault weapons, including AR-15-style rifles. The Rhode Island case sought to overturn a state law that instituted a felony charge for possession of a semiautomatic weapons magazine with a capacity of more than 10 rounds. Justices Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito dissented from the court’s denial of certiorari in both cases.

Did the court explain its decision not to review the cases? The court’s majority didn’t elaborate on its one-line orders declining to hear the cases.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in a statement about the Maryland case that the lower court’s decision to uphold the weapons ban was questionable, given that millions of Americans own and use AR-15s. The Supreme Court would likely take on the issue during its next term or the one after, he said. However, he didn’t explain why the court refused to take on the issue during its current term.

Dig deeper: Read Alyssa Griffith’s report on the Supreme Court’s recent refusal to reconsider a ban on a student’s “only two genders” T-shirt.