The U.S. Third Circuit last week struck down the Garden State's circa 1990 ban on many popular semi-auto firearms and magazines holding more than 10 rounds.
The appeals court, in a rare en banc hearing of all its active judges, held 10-5 that New Jersey's "assault weapon" and "large capacity magazine" ban didn't square with the constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms.
The majority decision in the sprawling 192-page ruling was penned by a 2022 Biden appointee, Judge Arianna J. Freeman. Six of the 10 judges in the majority – Stephanos Bibas, Emil Bove, Paul B. Matey, Jennifer Mascott, Peter J. Phipps, and David J. Porter – were appointed by President Trump.
The majority pointed out that, with more than 24 million AR-15-style rifles and 100 million magazines in circulation, the platform was in common use – and the history, text, and tradition of U.S. law do not support such a prohibition.
"Bans on weapons in common use for lawful purposes are unlawful," wrote Freeman in closing. "So are severe restrictions on weapons in common use for lawful purposes. However much nuance we might employ, we could not overcome the dearth of relevantly similar Founding-era restrictions."
The case, ANJRPC v. Attorney General of New Jersey (Nos. 24-2415, 24-2450, and 24-2506), had been brought by the NRA-aligned Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, which has been fighting the ban for decades, and was combined with other cases backed by the Firearms Policy Coalition, among others.
"This is a massive victory for the People and another devastating blow to the authoritarian war on gun owners,” said FPC President Brandon Combs in an email to Guns.com. "The Third Circuit correctly recognized what was obvious all along: the government cannot ban an entire class of commonly owned firearms, full stop. New Jersey’s bans were always unconstitutional, and today the en banc court said so."
New Jersey's ban was one of the oldest in the country, only preceded by California's 1989 ban. Should New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport elect to continue to defend the now-nullified ban and the appeal last week's ruling to the Supreme Court, it would likely be in a holding pattern awaiting a ruling on the pending AWB challenges from Connecticut and Illinois before the high court. Further, the Supremes only elect to hear about 4 percent of the en banc cases sent their way every year.
Should Davenport not continue the appeal, New Jerseyans could soon be queuing up to buy the first legal ARs and standard-capacity magazines sold in the state since "Home Alone" and "Ghost" were in theaters.
