Second Amendment advocates were dealt a blow last week when a US Appeals Court determined a decades-old Massachusetts ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines could be kept in place.
The ruling is the latest win for Massachusetts gun control advocates as they’ve faced a series of challenges to the state’s strict firearms laws. Those legal fights increased after the state passed a sweeping firearm legislative package last July, further bolstering gun restrictions and prompting several more lawsuits from pro-gun advocates.
This particular firearms saga began in 2022 with Joseph Capen, a Massachusetts resident who sought to purchase firearms deemed illegal by the law. He, alongside the National Association for Gun Rights, sued the state in September 2022, arguing the law infringed on gun owners’ Second and 14th Amendment protections by imposing on their rights to carry firearms and self-defense.
In a statement, Attorney General Andrea Campbell, who handled the case for Massachusetts, lauded the court decision, saying it will make the state safer.
“Massachusetts has some of the strongest common sense gun laws in the country, and we know they are effective in ensuring our communities, especially our children, remain safe,’’ Campbell said. “The recent First Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision to uphold Massachusetts’ assault weapons ban is a tremendous victory for our state, and I will continue to vigorously defend these laws.’’
Massachusetts, which had its assault weapons ban enacted in 1998, faced new challenges to its gun laws in 2022 after the Supreme Court issued its pivotal New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen decision, commonly known as Bruen. The ruling changed how firearms laws are deemed permissible under the Second Amendment and forced many states, including Massachusetts, to update their firearms regulations.
The ruling also unleashed a wave of legal challenges from Second Amendment advocates across the country, who saw the Bruen decision as an opening to overturn gun safety regimens nationwide. It deemed laws in places such as New York, Illinois, and Minnesota unconstitutional and made states think more carefully about whether any new gun restrictions could withstand lawsuits.
The Boston-based US Circuit Court of Appeals for the First Circuit last week sided with a federal district court that in December 2023 found Massachusetts’ law was historically consistent with other firearms regulations under the new Bruen test, and declined to block the ban.
Massachusetts’ ban “does not impose a heavy burden on civilian self-defense,’’ Judge Gary Katzmann wrote on behalf of the appeals court, adding that those challenging it “do not demonstrate a single instance where the AR-15 — or any other banned weapon — has actually been used in a self-defense scenario.’’
Meanwhile, Hannah Hill, vice president for the National Foundation for Gun Rights, wrote on social media that while the court’s ruling was expected, it was “full of absolute defiance of Bruen.’’
Anjali Huynh can be reached at anjali.huynh@globe.com.
