Arizona and West Virginia are just two of the 25 states urging the Supreme Court to hear a case against Maryland’s firearms law.
The states are pushing the Supreme Court to hear Bianchi v. Frosh, which challenges Maryland’s Firearms Safety Act of 2013. The law was upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in September.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich stated, “Americans do not require approval from a local jurisdiction to exercise their constitutional rights”. “We must vigorously oppose this type of misguided overreach at all levels of government”.
One of the strictest in the country, Maryland’s law requires residents to undergo safety training and fingerprinting before being granted a license to buy a pistol.
According to Fox News, it “also attempts to define assault weapons” by banning the sale of firearms like the AR-15 and similar rifles. Magazine capacity is restricted to 10 rounds of ammunition.
Some banned firearms have features that the 25 states argue actually enhance gun safety, such as folding stocks and flash hiders.
The other states involved include Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming.
The states argue that the law compromises “the Second Amendment rights of millions of citizens” and bans firearms that “benefit public safety, counterbalance the threat of illegal gun violence and help make our streets safer”.
The 2008 District of Columbia v. Heller case was cited in a legal brief. The Supreme Court had ruled that individuals unconnected to military service or a militia have the right to possess firearms for lawful purposes. It is argued that the ruling should be clarified to include sporting rifles in “common use”.
Some of the firearms banned under Maryland’s law fit the definition of common use, and 42 other states currently allow for their possession.
A press release states, “SCOTUS should not allow a state to invade its own citizens’ constitutional rights”. “If left untouched, Maryland’s unconstitutional ban on firearms and the Fourth Circuit’s erroneous standard threaten the constitutional rights of all Americans. Arizona and forty-two other states allow the commonly-used firearms that Maryland has banned outright”.