Overview

• The justices declined in a 6-3 vote to hear challenges to Maryland’s 2013 ban on assault-style rifles and Rhode Island’s restriction on magazines holding more than ten rounds.
• Justice Brett Kavanaugh issued a statement calling the Fourth Circuit’s ruling “questionable” and predicting the Court will address AR-15 prohibitions within the next term or two.
• Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented, arguing that AR-15s are in common civilian use and deserve full Second Amendment scrutiny.
• Maryland’s law, upheld earlier by the Fourth Circuit as consistent with historical firearm regulations, and Rhode Island’s high-capacity mag ban remain in effect after lower courts rejected constitutional challenges.
• With similar gun-control cases pending in other appeals courts, further petitions for Supreme Court review of state assault-weapon and magazine bans are expected soon.