(LibertySons.org) – In 2013, the Maryland legislature passed an assault weapons ban on 45 types of assault long guns, 15 assault pistols, and copycat weapons. The law was challenged in 2017 and stayed in place on appeal in a 10 to 4 ruling from the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. After a 2022 ruling from the Supreme Court, the appeals court is reviewing the law again and the plaintiffs asked SCOTUS to simultaneously issue a ruling on the matter.
On May 20, the Supreme Court declined to take the case. While the high court didn’t specify why it decided not to hear the matter, it could be because the legal challenge is still with the appeals court. However, the plaintiffs in Bianchi v. Brown feel the lower court is taking too long to decide whether or not to uphold the law, turning to SCOTUS for help. It seems they will have to wait until the appellate judges make their ruling.
The law was put in place in the Old Line State in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre in Connecticut the previous year. Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, who supported the law in 2013, said it was unthinkable that the type of weapons that “caused the carnage in Newtown” would be protected by the Constitution. Marylanders to Prevent Gun Violence Executive Director Elizabeth Banach said Maryland needed to set an example for the nation that using “evidence-based policies…reduce[s] gun violence.” In 2023, Every Stat reported that Maryland’s gun violence sits at 24 among the 50 states in America. Nearly 800 people are killed by guns in the mid-Atlantic state.
The states that currently have assault weapons ban on the books besides Maryland include California, Delaware, Hawaii, New Jersey, Washington, Connecticut, Washington, DC., Illinois, Massachusetts, and New York.
The 4th Circuit has not signaled how long it will take the panel to review the case.
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