A federal appeals court has ruled that New Jersey’s ban on assault-style firearms and high-capacity magazines is unconstitutional, delivering one of the most significant Second Amendment rulings to affect the state in years.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled Friday, in a 10-5 decision, that New Jersey’s prohibitions on AR-15-style semiautomatic rifles and magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds violate the Second Amendment. The ruling affirms and expands an earlier decision from a lower federal court that had already found parts of the law unconstitutional.
New Jersey has maintained some of the strictest gun laws in the country, including its ban on what state law defines as “assault firearms” and its 10-round magazine limit, both enacted in the name of public safety. Friday’s ruling strikes at the core of that framework and is expected to reshape gun regulation across the Third Circuit’s jurisdiction, which also covers Pennsylvania and Delaware.
The decision adds New Jersey to a growing list of states where assault weapons and magazine-capacity restrictions have been challenged and struck down in federal court in recent years, as courts continue to interpret the Second Amendment’s scope following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen decision, which set a stricter historical-tradition test for gun laws. Given the scale of the ruling, further appeal — potentially to the full Third Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court — is widely seen as likely.
This is a developing story; more details are expected as state officials and gun-safety advocates respond to the ruling.
Source: Bergen Record, with additional reporting from the Associated Press, Reuters, Politico, and Courthouse News Service.