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Civic Register
| 7.7.22

Supreme Court Sends Assault Weapons Ban, Magazine Capacity Limits, & Open Carry Cases Back for Reconsideration

Do you agree with sending the cases back for reconsideration under the new precedent?

What’s the story?

  • The Supreme Court vacated decisions by appeals courts in four cases concerning state gun control laws and remanded them for reconsideration based on the Supreme Court’s recent decision in New York Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.
  • At issue in the four cases are state restrictions on firearm magazine capacity limits, an assault weapons ban, and open carry.  

What did the Supreme Court hold in Bruen?

  • In Bruen, the Supreme Court issued a 6-3 ruling along ideological lines that overturned the state of New York’s requirement that law-abiding residents seeking a concealed carry permit to possess a handgun in public for self-defense “show proper cause” and “demonstrate a special need for self-protection distinguishable from that of the general community.”
  • Bruen held that New York’s “special need” requirement violated the Fourteenth Amendment because it prevented law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. 
  • It expanded upon and clarified prior Supreme Court precedent under Heller, which held that the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect an individual’s right to keep and bear arms for self-defense, by ruling that there is a constitutional right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.
  • The decision also emphasized its use of the Court’s text, history, and tradition test adopted in Heller and affirmed by McDonald. The test requires the government to demonstrate that firearm regulations are consistent with the country’s historical tradition of firearm regulations. 

What cases were sent back for reconsideration?

  • The Supreme Court vacated the four appellate court decisions on July 1st, so they will return to lower courts to be reconsidered pursuant to the Bruen decision.
  • Eventually, it’s possible that the Supreme Court may consider them depending on what transpires during their reconsideration by lower courts. Here’s a look at the cases that were remanded:

Hawaii Open Carry

  • Young v. Hawaii concerns the state of Hawaii’s requirement that residents seeking a license to openly carry a firearm in public have to demonstrate “the urgency or the need” to carry, must be of good moral character, and must be “engaged in the protection of life and property.”
  • The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals initially ruled in Young’s favor when the case was considered by a three-judge panel, but the circuit rejected the legal challenge to Hawaii’s law and overturned the prior ruling upon a rehearing in 2021.
  • Of the four cases vacated and remanded by the Supreme Court, Young v. Hawaii bears the strongest similarity to Bruen. The state also had conditional concealed carry restrictions like New York’s, as noted by Reason, although the concealed carry application wasn’t the subject of Young’s challenge.

California 10 Round Magazine Ban

  • Duncan v. Bonta concerns California’s ban on “large capacity magazines” (LCMs) that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. It allowed gun owners to modify such magazines to accept less than 10 rounds, sell those magazines to firearm dealers, or remove them from the state. 
  • California’s law exempted active or retired law enforcement officers, security guards for armored cars, and holders of special weapons permits.
  • In 2020, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit initially held that California’s law violated the Second Amendment, but that decision was reversed when the Ninth Circuit reheard the case en banc (with a larger panel of judges).

Maryland Assault Weapons Ban

  • Bianchi v. Frosh concerns Maryland’s ban on so-called assault weapons. 
  • The state’s law defines assault weapons as semi-automatic centerfire rifles that accept detachable magazines and have at least two of the following three features: a flash suppressor, a folding stock, or a grenade or flare launcher. Maryland’s law also includes a 10-round magazine ban. 
  • The Fourth Circuit Court denied the challenge to Maryland’s law in a per curiam decision in 2021, which cited the circuit’s 2017 precedent.

New Jersey 10 Round Magazine Ban

  • This case is similar to Duncan v. Bonta, as ANJRPC v. Bruck concerns New Jersey’s ban on “large-capacity magazines” capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition. 
  • New Jersey’s law allows owners of LCMs to comply by modifying the LCM; rendering the firearm or LCM inoperable; registering firearms with LCMs that can’t be modified; transferring the firearm or LCM to an individual or entity entitled to own or possess it; or surrendering it to law enforcement.
  • The Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld New Jersey’s law as constitutional in 2020.


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— Eric Revell

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