Delaware ban on assault-style weapons, large-capacity magazines stands

A U.S. appeals court has upheld Delaware’s assault weapon and large-capacity magazine ban, which was challenged by a sportsmen’s group challenging the constitutionality of state law.

In the opinion issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the court ruled that the Delaware State Sportsmen’s Association case for preliminary injunction against Delaware’s gun laws banning assault-style weapons and large-capacity magazines lacked merit, and an injunction is only used in extraordinary instances.

“They offered no details about how they would be harmed,” the court wrote.

The court also shot down the sportsmen’s group's constitutional challenge that the gun laws violate the Second Amendment.

The court said state attorneys did a better job arguing that not all weapons should be allowed to be used for self-defense.

“Though the Second Amendment presumptively protects ‘arms’ that are in common use for self defense, it does not extend to ‘dangerous and unusual weapons,’” the court wrote. 

These include weapons that are not typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes, such as short-barreled shotguns, or weapons that are most useful in military service, such as M-16 rifles and the like, the court wrote.

The court went on to say that long guns are ill-suited for self defense because home and self-defense scenarios rarely, if ever, involve lengthy shootouts at long ranges or extensive exchanges of gunfire. Moreover, projectiles traveling at velocities as high as a 5.66 mm or .223 caliber cartridge can easily penetrate most home construction materials, posing a serious risk of harm to bystanders in adjacent rooms or even outside the home entirely.

The court ruled similarly for Delaware law banning large-capacity magazines and copy cat weapons.

“Therefore, even though a weapon might be useful in civilian and military contexts, a weapon that is most suited for military use falls outside the scope of ‘arms’ protected by the Second Amendment,” the opinion states.

The court supports the Delaware gun laws because it says the Delaware Legislature recognized that assault weapons and large-capacity magazines pose a grave threat to the health, safety, and security of Delawareans and acted accordingly.

“Confronted with unprecedented violence, Delaware determined it was in the public interest to address the proliferation of assault weapons and LCMs – instruments that were purpose-built to kill as many people as quickly as possible,” the court states.

Attorney General Kathleen Jennings praised the decision.

"The gun lobby’s crusade against common-sense gun safety policy has once again proven to be an expensive failure: Delaware’s gun safety laws all remain on the books,” she wrote in a statement. “The idea that the founders envisioned unfettered access to AR-15s when they described a ‘well-regulated militia’ is a delusion. Assault weapons and large-capacity magazines are modern tools whose sole purpose is to kill. I’m grateful to the Third Circuit for its ruling and will continue to fight like hell to keep our kids and our communities safe.”