On August 6, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia ruled 10 to 5 to uphold Maryland’s “assault weapons” ban in Bianchi v. Wilkinson.
The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), which had challenged the ban in court, announced it will seek Supreme Court review.
The Fourth Circuit ruled that the ban did not violate the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms or that restrictions on firearms ownership be rooted in text and history as required by the 2022 case of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.
“Today’s decision from the 4th Circuit is unsurprising given their prior decision in Kolbe,” said SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut. “We believe, much like in Kolbe, the court’s analysis is flawed and that the challenged law is unconstitutional. We will be filing a petition for certiorari at the Supreme Court, as this case presents an excellent vehicle for the Court to settle this debate once and for all.”
In the 65-page opinion written by Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, the majority said, “The assault weapons at issue fall outside the ambit of protection offered by the Second Amendment because, in essence, they are military-style weapons designed for sustained combat operations that are ill-suited and disproportionate to the need for self-defense.”
“We decline to wield the Constitution to declare that military-style armaments, which have become primary instruments of mass killing and terrorist attacks in the United States,” Judge Wilkinson added, “are beyond the reach of our nation’s democratic processes.”
Chief Judge Diaz drafted a concurring opinion, with five other judges joining.
Judge Richardson drafted a dissenting opinion, with four other judges joining, writing in the decision, “The Second Amendment is not a second-class right subject to the whimsical discretion of federal judges. Its mandate is absolute and, applied here, unequivocal…In holding otherwise, the majority grants states historically unprecedented leeway to trammel the constitutional liberties of their citizens.”
Joining SAF in the case are the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Field Traders, LLC., the Firearms Policy Coalition, and three private citizens, David Snope, Micah Schaefer and Dominic Bianchi, for whom the case is named.
Losing the appeal were Dominic Bianchi, an individual and resident of Baltimore County and the named appellant; David Snope, an individual and resident of Baltimore County; Micah Schaefer, an individual and resident of Anne Arundel County; Field Traders LLC, Firearms Policy Coalition, Inc., Second Amendment Foundation, and the Citizens Committee For The Right To Keep And Bear Arms.
“The court relied heavily on the distinction between ‘military style’ arms and those appropriate for self-defense use,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “This distinction runs completely contrary to the mandates of Heller and Bruen, and now sets the stage for another petition for SCOTUS review of the case.”
Read the full decision by clicking the link below.
Maryland AWB 4th Circuit Decision
