The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) passed on a chance Monday to review bans, one on open carry in Florida and one on “assault weapons” in Maryland.
On February 26, 2017, Breitbart News reported that the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit “upheld Maryland’s ‘assault weapons’ ban by ruling that AR-15s have a close enough resemblance to weapons of war to be treated like weapons of war.” The ruling came in Kolbe v. Hogan.
Breitbart News reported on July 10, 2017, that Florida Carry asked the Supreme Court to rule on open carry outside the home via David Lee Norman v. State of Florida.
According to the Washington Times, SCOTUS passed on the opportunity to hear either appeal, leaving the bans on open carry and “assault weapons” intact.
On June 26, SCOTUS refused to review the concealed carry case, Peruta v. California, and Associate Justice Clarence Thomas warned that the court could not “stand by idly” while state-level gun controls undercut the Second Amendment. It will be interesting to see what Thomas says in the wake of SCOTUS’s refusal to review bans on open carry and “assault weapons.”
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.