SCOTUS tells lowers courts to review anti-gun rulings which allowed strict gun control laws to remain in place in California, Hawaii, Maryland, and New Jersey
Washington, D.C. – This morning, the Supreme Court struck down four unconstitutional lower court rulings in the 9th Circuit, 3rd Circuit, and 4th Circuit – putting into jeopardy the gun control laws in California, Hawaii, Maryland, and New Jersey which they previously upheld. The gun control laws and subsequent appellate court rulings allowed these states to ban standard capacity magazines, certain semi-automatic rifles, and essentially ban the public carry of firearms.
“The victory here is significant and we’ll be using our legal foundation and lobbying arm in every way possible to make sure states follow through with what the Court just determined,” said Dudley Brown, President of the National Association for Gun Rights. “The Second Amendment is an enshrined, enumerated, incorporated, and individual right – and it’s time anti-gun states be smacked down for blatantly ruling against the Bill of Rights and Supreme Court decisions.”
A ruling in the 4th Circuit upheld Maryland’s “assault weapon” ban, two rulings in the 9th Circuit and 3rd Circuit upheld magazine bans, and another 9th Circuit ruling upheld Hawaii’s de facto public carry ban.
But in the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen decision last week, the Court rejected “intermediate scrutiny” – the cost/benefit analysis framework that allowed lower courts to rule against the Second Amendment – and established that the standard for applying the Second Amendment is the text, history, and tradition of the right to keep and bear arms –thereby invalidating the lower court rulings and their justification for gun control.
The courts must now revisit the states’ gun control laws in light of the Bruen, McDonald, and Heller decisions.
“The right to defend oneself is the most basic and intrinsic right we possess – and the circuit courts which repeatedly ruled against self-defense and the Second Amendment for Americans living in these states must now grapple with the fact that their decisions were not only immoral, but unconstitutional. Legislators must also accept that the gun control laws they inflicted on their constituents came with deadly consequences – and it’s time they do the right thing and repeal dangerous anti-gun legislation.” concluded Brown.
The National Association for Gun Rights and National Foundation for Gun Rights will be working with pro-gun legislators and members in these states to begin the process of repealing these unconstitutional gun control laws and preparing to bring litigation to overturn them where necessary.
The National Association for Gun Rights is the nation’s largest “no compromise” pro-gun organization, with 4.5 million members nationwide.
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