Supreme Court Declines Gun-Control Cases, But Assault Weapons Ban May Get Future Review

One justice, who backed rejecting the cases, questioned the constitutionality of AR-15 bans and said the court may address the issue “in the next term or two.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — A split Supreme Court on Monday rejected a pair of gun rights cases, though one conservative justice predicted the court would soon consider whether assault weapons bans are constitutional.

The majority did not explain its reasoning in turning down the cases over high-capacity magazines and state bans on guns like the AR-15, popular weapons that have also been used in mass shootings.

But three conservative justices on the nine-member court publicly noted their disagreement, and a fourth said he is skeptical that assault-weapons bans are constitutional.

Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch said they would have taken a case challenging Maryland’s ban, and Justice Clarence Thomas wrote separately to say the law likely runs afoul of the Second Amendment.

“I would not wait to decide whether the government can ban the most popular rifle in America,” Thomas wrote. “That question is of critical importance to tens of millions of law-abiding AR–15 owners throughout the country.”