SCOTUS needs to stop tap dancing around the second amendment. At one time a musket was a ‘weapon of war’.
The Supreme Court declined to take up two Second Amendment cases on Monday, which challenged laws banning assault weapons and open-carry in Maryland and Florida.
Both cases were denied review without comment from the justices, which left the lower court rulings in place.
In the Florida challenge, the state Supreme Court upheld Florida’s ban on open carry finding the Second Amendment doesn’t guarantee a right to open carry.
Dale Norman, who is licensed to conceal and carry, had challenged Florida’s ban on open-carry after he was arrested and fined for brandishing his firearm holster uncovered by his shirt while walking down the street.
He was ultimately found guilty, and the Florida Supreme Court sided with the state in his legal battle, saying the state’s law doesn’t violate the Second Amendment.
In the Maryland challenge, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the state’s ban on semi-automatic rifles and large-capacity magazines was legal.
The en banc ruling from the 4th Circuit in February held assault weapons and large-capacity magazines are military style weapons, and therefore, outside the reach of the Second Amendment.
“Put simply we have no power to extend Second Amendment protection to the weapons of war,” wrote Circuit Judge Robert B. King in the opinion.