Supreme Court Declines to Hear Challenge to Maryland’s AR-15 Ban, But Justices Signal Fight Isn’t Over

by Emmitt Barry, with reporting from Washington D.C. Bureau Staff

(Worthy News) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a major Second Amendment case challenging Maryland’s ban on so-called “assault weapons,” allowing the state’s prohibition on the sale of AR-15-style rifles and other popular semiautomatic firearms to remain in place–for now.

Gun rights advocates had urged the high court to intervene, arguing that the time had come for a definitive ruling on whether AR-15s and similar rifles fall under the protections of the Second Amendment. While the court refused to hear the case, several justices signaled the issue is far from settled.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a Maryland native, joined the majority in denying the case but issued a statement casting doubt on the constitutionality of Maryland’s 2013 law. “Although the court today denies certiorari, a denial of certiorari does not mean that the court agrees with a lower-court decision,” Kavanaugh wrote. “This court should and presumably will address the AR-15 issue soon, in the next term or two.”

Maryland’s law, enacted in the aftermath of mass shootings such as Sandy Hook, targets not only the AR-15, but also the AK-47 and .50 caliber rifles, labeling them “assault weapons” that are “dangerous and unusual.” The Supreme Court has previously ruled that such weapons fall outside Second Amendment protections.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the law last year in a sharply worded opinion by Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, who called AR-15s “primary instruments of mass killing and terrorist attacks.” He described them as “combat-functional” firearms that go beyond the realm of civilian self-defense.

However, three justices–Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch–said they would have heard the case immediately. Justice Thomas, in a fiery dissent, warned that the delay could embolden federal overreach. “I would not wait to decide whether the government can ban the most popular rifle in America,” he said. “We have avoided deciding it for a full decade.”

Thomas pointed to the Court’s landmark Bruen decision, which held that gun restrictions must align with the historical understanding of the Second Amendment at the time of the Founders. He argued that AR-15s, while semiautomatic, function no differently than many handguns used for self-defense and should therefore be protected.

Gun rights groups have emphasized that tens of millions of AR-15s are already in legal circulation across more than 40 states, underscoring the rifle’s widespread acceptance among law-abiding Americans.

While Monday’s action leaves Maryland’s ban in place, all eyes will now turn to the next round of legal challenges moving through lower courts. As Kavanaugh noted, the high court appears poised to confront the AR-15 question directly–just not yet.

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