Overview

• The Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority refused to hear Hanson v. District of Columbia, preserving the D.C. felony ban on magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.
• Justices turned away separate appeals of Rhode Island’s magazine restrictions and Maryland’s ban on assault-style weapons after falling one vote short of the four needed to grant review.
• A federal trial court and the D.C. Circuit upheld the District’s restriction on grounds that large-capacity magazines are arms subject to regulation due to their increased lethality.
• Gun owners who challenged the bans sought to expand the court’s 2022 Bruen decision on carrying rights to firearm accessories but failed to gain traction at the high court.
• Advocacy groups including Everytown for Gun Safety and Giffords Law Center hailed the decision as an affirmation of states’ power to regulate accessories considered particularly dangerous.