Appeals court upholds ban on some semiautomatic weapons in Maryland

A federal court of appeals on Tuesday upheld a ban on some semiautomatic weapons in Maryland, which prohibits possessing or selling military-style assault weapons, saying the state law complies with a recent Supreme Court ruling.

Maryland passed the law initially in 2013, after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where shooter Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people, including 20 children.

The appeals court said in a 10-5 ruling that the weapons still comply with the Supreme Court's extended guidelines because military-style assault weapons that are intended to be used in sustained combat operations are not protected under the Second Amendment. 

“We decline to wield the Constitution to declare that military-style armaments which have become primary instruments of mass killing and terrorist attacks in the United States are beyond the reach of our nation’s democratic processes,” Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III wrote for the majority. "[The Maryland law] is but another example of a state regulating excessively dangerous weapons once their incompatibility with a lawful and safe society becomes apparent, while nonetheless preserving avenues for armed self-defense.”

Eight other justices supported Wilkinson's position, and another agreed that the law was constitutional, according to The Hill. But five opposed the ruling, claiming the law does not pass constitutional muster because the weapons are commonly used by citizens for lawful purposes.

“While history and tradition support the banning of weapons that are both dangerous and unusual, Maryland’s ban cannot pass constitutional muster as it prohibits the possession of arms commonly possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes,” Judge Julius Richardson wrote in a nearly 100-page dissent. “In holding otherwise, the majority grants states historically unprecedented leeway to trammel the constitutional liberties of their citizens.” 

The ruling is expected to be appealed by one of the three gun rights groups that challenged the law. Firearms Policy Coalition said it would even take the case to the Supreme Court.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.