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Friday's appeals court ruling in the New Jersey case goes
further than a July 2024 ruling from a federal judge, who said
that the state's ban on AR-15s specifically was unconstitutional
but upheld the provision barring larger magazines. The 3rd U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals said Friday in its opinion that the
state's ban on all semiautomatic rifles it deems to be “assault
firearms” and restriction on “large capacity ammunition
magazines” were unconstitutional.
New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, a Democrat whose
office defended the law, said in a statement that the decision
is “as unfortunate as it is legally incorrect.”
“Every other federal circuit court to consider the issue has
come out the other way,” Davenport said. “Assault weapons and
large capacity magazines play a dangerous role in the modern
epidemic of mass shootings, and New Jersey acted reasonably and
lawfully in restricting them. We are considering our options.”
John Commerford, executive director of the National Rifle
Association Institute for Legislative Action, called the ruling
a “historic victory for the NRA, the Second Amendment, and
law-abiding Americans."
In addition to New Jersey, 10 states, as well as the District of
Columbia, have laws that generally ban the manufacture, sale,
and transfer of assault weapons, according to the Giffords Law
Center to Prevent Gun Violence. The District of Columbia, New
Jersey and 11 other states cap magazine capacity at 10 rounds
generally or for certain types of firearms.
Adam Winkler, a law professor at the University of California,
Los Angeles, said that Friday's ruling was surprising because
federal courts of appeals have upheld assault weapons bans in
the past. On the other hand, he added, the decision "may be
foretelling the Supreme Court’s coming opinion on assault
weapons bans.”
“What this Third Circuit opinion shows is that there are very
few gun laws that are safe from being struck down right now,"
Winkler said.
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Kelety reported from Phoenix.
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