Supreme Court makes decision on gun law challenges in Delaware, Maryland

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear challenges to gun laws in Delaware and Maryland.

The justices turned away an appeal from a group of gun enthusiasts and firearm advocacy groups in Delaware to block the state’s prohibition on assault-style rifles and large-capacity ammunition magazines after a lower court refused to issue a preliminary injunction against the ban.

Delaware’s gun safety laws were enacted in 2022 and ban various semi-automatic “assault” long guns, including the AR-15 and AK47, though it allows those who owned such weapons prior to the law being enacted to keep the firearms under certain conditions, according to Reuters.

The high court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, also declined to hear a case challenging Maryland’s handgun licensing requirements, which requires people to get safety training, submit fingerprints and pass a background check before buying a handgun. 

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The challengers argued that the handgun law violates the Second Amendment by making it too hard for people to get guns. 

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The law was passed following the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, where 20 first-graders and six educators were killed.

A three-judge appeals court panel later struck down the law after a landmark 2022 Supreme Court ruling that expanded gun rights and said firearm laws must have strong roots in the country’s historic traditions, though the full 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later revived the law after the majority found that it does fit within historic firearm regulations.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.