Federal judge upholds Delaware's assault weapons ban

A federal judge has rejected a legal challenge by Second Amendment groups seeking to block Delaware’s "assault weapons" ban while a legal challenge over the law plays out in court.

The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Andrews, issued last week, rejected a request by the Delaware Sportsmen's Association and other groups who sued the state for a preliminary injunction blocking the new regulations from being enforced as he considers the lawsuit.

"Plaintiffs have furnished no evidence that they cannot adequately defend themselves without the regulated weapons, or, indeed, that their ability to self-defend has been meaningfully diminished," Andrews wrote in the 31-page ruling. "Consequently, I am not convinced that an inability to possess or to obtain assault weapons or large capacity magazines for self-defense and other lawful purposes constitutes irreparable harm."

Andrews added the plaintiffs have also offered "no evidence that they are likely to incur significant business losses absent a preliminary injunction" by not being able to sell long rifles and large capacity magazines banned under the state's new regulations, and are "free to sell the multitude of firearms that are unaffected by the challenged statutes."

Last year, Gov. John Carney signed a package of gun control measures that included a ban on the sale of so-called assault-style weapons, an increase in the age to purchase firearms from 18 to 21, strengthened background checks and limits on large-capacity magazines. It also banned the use of devices that convert handguns into fully automatic weapons.

The proposals were pushed through the Democratic-controlled General Assembly in the wake of several mass shootings, including the massacre of 21 at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

But the sportsman's association, a state-level affiliate of the National Rifle Association, filed the lawsuit shortly after Carney signed the bills arguing they violate Second Amendment rights and Delaware's Constitution, both which guarantee a right to own and carry firearms.

The plaintiffs argued in court filings that the new law "criminalized the purchase and ownership of common firearms used by law abiding citizens, 18 years-old through 20 years-old, for lawful purposes—labeling them as "deadly weapons" — and making it a felony for law-abiding citizens to exercise their fundamental right to keep and bear such arms."

Lawyers for the group later filed an amended complaint, asking the court to grant an injunction blocking the state's new large capacity magazine "buy-back" program.

The lawsuit is one of hundreds of legal challenges across the country filed in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the N.Y. State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen's case struck down a New York law requiring applicants to show “proper cause” to get a permit to carry a firearm.

The high court's conservative majority affirmed the constitutional right to carry firearms in public places for self-defense, which has prompted reviews of firearm licensing laws in Delaware and other Democrat-led states to tighten their gun laws to further restrict firearm carrying, which spurred other legal challenges from Second Amendment groups.

In response to Andrews' decision, the sportsman's association posted a statement on social media criticizing the ruling as "riddled with incorrect findings" and vowing to file an appeal.

"This comes as no surprise that an Obama-appointed judge would find a way to oppose the rights of the people to keep and bear arms, even after acknowledging our right, and correctly stated position, to do so," the statement said.

But Attorney General Kathy Jennings praised the ruling, pointing to recent mass shootings involving "assault" rifles and large capacity magazines, including one last month at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn., where a woman shot and killed three 9-year-olds and three adults.

"The list of mass shooters using AR-15s and similar weapons to murder innocents, including children, continues to grow," she said in a statement. "Gun violence has now surpassed car accidents as the leading cause of death for children in this country. And yet the gun lobby fights harder by the day to protect profits over people."