SCOTUS is Right About This –
It Will Need to Address State Gun Bans

The U.S. Supreme Court finally answered the question of whether it will address the issue of states banning entire classes of firearms for ownership by law-abiding citizens. Unfortunately, the answer – for now at least – is "not yet."

That's frustrating, for sure. And not just for the plaintiffs in both Snope v. Brown and Ocean State Tactical v. Rhode Island. Those were the two cases challenging state prohibitions on the sale and possession of Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs) and standard capacity magazines, respectively, that were petitioned to the Supreme Court. The Court denied certiorari for both cases, but not all justices were on board. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch would have granted both petitions and taken up the issue of whether these hardware bans violate the Second Amendment. Justice Brett Kavanaugh voted to deny the Snope petition but warned that the Court is going to have to answer the questions – and do so rather soon.

NSSF submitted amicus briefs supporting the petitions in both cases. It's safe to say, NSSF is just as disappointed by the Court's denial of the petitions as any. In the amicus for Snope, NSSF argued that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit erred when it held that the MSR – or AR-15 style rifle – isn't even an arm. The Fourth Circuit further held that the most-popular selling centerfire rifle in America – of which there are over 30 million in circulation today – is not a commonly-used firearm and is ill-suited and disproportionate to self-defense, and therefore doesn't warrant constitutional protection. .....