After Supreme Court Allows Maryland’s Semi-Automatic Rifle Ban To Stand, Gun Control Advocates Wonder For How Long

The Supreme Court announced that it would not grant a hearing to a Second Amendment challenge on Maryland’s law banning semi-automatic rifles. The court voted 6-3, with three conservative justices voting to hear the challenge.

The Maryland law was passed in 2013 after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut in 2012.

Justice Clarence Thomas was one of the judges who voted to hear the challenge. In his dissent, he wrote that the Supreme Court continuously shows its lack of adherence to the Second Amendment. He stated that the Second Amendment remains a second-class right, meaning that it is often overlooked in comparison to other amendments and rights.

Justices Samuel Alito Jr. and Neil Gorsuch were the other two who voted to hear the challenge, although they did not provide a dissent.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh seems likely to vote with the other conservative justices, but stated that he believes the Supreme Court will readdress the regulation of semi-automatic rifles after lower courts have issued their opinions on the issue.

Gun control advocates say that the Maryland gun ban doesn’t violate the Second Amendment. Semi-automatic rifles are considered to be military-style weapons that are made for combat rather than for self-defense.

Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III stated that the Constitution did not provide for military-style guns to be placed in the hands of citizens. Wilkinson noted that military-style guns are often used for mass shootings and attacks rather than for self-defense, which makes the ban constitutional.

Other judges who voted against hearing the challenge mentioned that putting military-grade weapons meant for destruction in the hands of citizens is a misreading of the Second Amendment and doesn’t take into account the history behind gun policies and regulations.

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Article by Sherry Chen

Sherry Chen is a uPolitics writer.