FEDERAL COURT STRIKES DOWN NEW JERSEY ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN

A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that New Jersey's bans on semiautomatic rifles classified as assault weapons and magazines holding 10 or more rounds are unconstitutional. The third US Circuit Court of Appeals decision marks the first occasion a federal appeals court has struck down a state-level ban on such weapons. The ruling comes as the US Supreme Court prepares to consider whether bans on semiautomatic rifles violate the Second Amendment later in 2025. It follows a July 2024 federal judge's decision that found the state's specific ban on AR-15s unconstitutional, though that ruling upheld the magazine restriction.

New Jersey's Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, a Democrat whose office defended the law, told the Associated Press the decision is "as unfortunate as it is legally incorrect". Davenport stated that "every other federal circuit court to consider the issue has come out the other way", and said assault weapons and large-capacity magazines "play a dangerous role in the modern epidemic of mass shootings". According to the Giffords Law Centre to Prevent Gun Violence, 10 states including California, New York and Delaware, plus the District of Columbia, have laws banning assault weapon manufacture, sale and transfer. The same jurisdictions, plus 11 others, impose caps on magazine capacity at 10 rounds generally or for certain firearm types.

The decision stands in contrast to a separate federal appeals court ruling last week that upheld Illinois' ban on semiautomatic weapons. The federal government enacted a national assault weapons ban in 1994, which Congress allowed to expire in 2004. New Jersey's attorney general stated the state is considering its options, though she did not specify what legal avenues might be pursued.