(José Niño, Headline USA) A series of high-stakes legal battles is unfolding across the United States as gun rights groups challenge some of the nation’s strictest firearm bans in the wake of a landmark Supreme Court decision.
The fate of assault weapons bans in Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Colorado now rests in the hands of federal courts, as pro-gun organization National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) seeks to overturn longstanding restrictions.
Since the NYSRPA v. Bruen Supreme Court decision, which mandated that gun regulations align with the Second Amendment’s “text and historical context,” multiple states have faced legal challenges to their firearm restrictions.
In an email it sent to its followers on Sunday, NAGR highlighted several lawsuits it has filed in the aforementioned states. NAGR’s legal arm, National Foundation for Gun Rights, filed a lawsuit in Massachusetts, seeking to overturn the state’s “assault weapons” and magazine bans, which were enacted in 2006. A favorable ruling in the First Circuit could have implications for similar laws throughout the Northeast, including Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.
In Connecticut, NFGR legal action challenges the expansion of the state’s assault weapons and magazine bans implemented in 2013. The lawsuit contends that the expanded restrictions, which added over 100 firearms and limited magazine capacity to 10 rounds, are inconsistent with the Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen decision. A decision in this case could affect gun regulations in the Second Circuit, covering Vermont and New York.
Hawaii’s laws, which ban certain pistols with common attachments and magazines exceeding 10 rounds, are also being contested. NFGR argues in its lawsuit that overturning these bans could influence similar regulations in Western states such as California, Oregon, and Washington.
In Illinois, litigation is underway against both a statewide semi-automatic weapons ban and a local ordinance in Naperville that prohibits the sale of AR-15 rifles. The outcome of these cases could establish a precedent for the Seventh Circuit, impacting Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana.
Finally, several local governments in Colorado, particularly in and around Boulder County, face lawsuits over recently enacted assault weapons and magazine bans. These legal challenges cite the Bruen decision as a basis for contesting the constitutionality of such restrictions.
Collectively, these lawsuits reflect a coordinated effort by NAGR and its legal arm to challenge and potentially overturn a range of firearm regulations in the wake of recent Supreme Court rulings on the Second Amendment.
“For decades, anti-gun politicians have chipped away at our rights with unconstitutional bans — but those days are over. With the Bruen decision in hand, we’re taking the fight to every court in the country. If they ban guns or magazines, they’d better be ready to face us in court,” Taylor Rhodes, the Communications Director for NAGR, told Headline USA.
Whether these challenges succeed or fail, their outcomes will set the tone for future debates over gun control and constitutional rights in the United States.
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
