U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- The United States Supreme Court declined to review a Maryland law that banned a large number of semi-automatic rifles including the AR15 which is the most popular semi-automatic rifle in the US as “weapons of war,” and a case involving the open carrying of a firearm in a holster out of Flordia.
Back in February U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond upheld Maryland’s 2012 “assault weapons ban” by a vote of 10-4 in the case Kolbe v. Hogan. They ruled that so-called “assault weapons” are not protected under the second amendment of the US Consitution. This ruling went further than any other court has gone to this point in regards to The Second Amendment.
In the decision of the majority ruling, written by Judge Robert B. King, it went as far as calling semi-automatic, like the AR15, “weapons of war.” Judge William B. Traxler Jr. who wrote the strongly worded decent said the court has, “gone to greater lengths than any other court to eviscerate the constitutionally guaranteed right to keep and bear arms.”
Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh (D) stated that it was, “unthinkable that people could say that those weapons of war are protected by the Second Amendment.” The type of rifles that are banned, AR-15 for example, are not used by any military in the world.
The US Supreme Court had not stepped into the gun debate since 2010 when it ruled that people had the right to keep a firearm in the home for self-defense. It has rejected every other review of every gun law even though 21 state attorneys generals asked the Supreme Court to review this case.
Maryland enacted their draconian law in response to the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school in New Town, CT. Rahm Emanuel famously said, “Never allow a good crisis to go to waste.” Maryland didn’t let the murder of children by a crazed gunman go to waste by politizing the shooting to get this law past.
The Supreme Court did not comment on why the court decided not to review the decision of the 4th Circuit Court in this case. Many gun rights activists were hoping the decision of the 4th Circuit would be reviewed by the Supreme Court since the law and the 4th Circuit Court’s decision stood on shaky legal ground.
In a second case out of Flordia, Norman v. Florida, the United States Supreme Court also refused to hear the appeal. This court case was about the constitutional right to open carry a firearm in a holster.
A Florida man, Dale Lee Norman, was arrested in Florida in 2012 for open carrying a firearm while walking down the street. Florida allows for the carrying guns outside of the home, but Florida requires the weapons to be concealed by the wearer with a valid concealed handgun permit. Norman, who at the time of his arrest had a clean record, was challenging the constitutionality of this law.
According to Crane v. Department of State, Florida views the right to carry a firearm outside the home as a privilege and not as a right. If Norman had been successful in his appeal, this would have had a ripple effect that would have forced other states such as South Carolina and Illinois to change their laws on the open carrying of firearms since their requirements are almost identical to Florida’s law.
The United States Supreme Court also did not offer any comment to why they turned down the review of this case. It is unclear why they have refused to review decisions in court cases involving firearms.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He is the former CEO of Veritas Firearms, LLC and is the co-host of The Patriot News Podcast which can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/patriotnews. John has written extensively on the patriot movement including 3%’ers, Oath Keepers, and Militias. In addition to the Patriot movement, John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and is currently working on a book on the history of the patriot movement and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss or at www.crumpy.com.
Read Florida Statute 790.25 (3), (h), (j) and (k).
You can open carry in Florida under certain conditions… Read Fl St 790.25 (3), (h), (j), and (k).
has anyone here ever read the DICK ACT OF 1902?
that act CANNOT BE REPEALED, AND GUN CONTROL IS NULL AND VOID BY THAT ACT.
it’s really an act explaining the difference in the MILITARY, NATIONAL GUARD, AND MILITIA.
just type in dickact1902.com i think you will be surprised.
John, wash your mouth out with soap and remember that taste the next time you start to type the word “gunman’. That word should never, ever be used by a pro 2A person. Never. Ever.
Don’t these bone heads ever read the Constitution of The United States of America? The Constitution belongs to the people, it restrains government, giving them their proper place as serving the people. Any government, city, county, state, federal has no authority to state which firearm you may or may not own. The 2nd amendment guarantees the rite of the people to have the arms of the day, to protect this nation from invasions and bad government.
The Supreme Court lacks an enforcement power or agent. The SCOTUS is like your maiden aunt telling you to be good boys and girls. A time line can be useful… 1775 The unorganized militia formed to resist the British at Concord and Lexington. The Revolution started. 1776 The Declaration of Independence is written and signed, The British now have names of the rebels who pledged their wealth, property, lives and honor. The list of government excesses pales when compared to today’s taxes, regulations, surveillance and repression. In 1858 SCOTUS said that citizens of any state could travel to any state… Read more »
A lot if people are saying that then4 conservatives on the Supreme Court are deliberately waiting for a liberal to die and Trump appoints another conservative Then they will accept some gun cases and we will have a 2nd amendment win The Maryland assault rifle ban is joke, written by people who know nothing about guns The Steyr Aug was banned by name Later, the Tavor was introduced and is legal in Maryland AK 47’s are banned AK 74’s are ok Galil Ace is ok as are VZ 58 and AK 47 pistols with a Sig brace 30 round magazines… Read more »
Gun control advocates have many allies entrenched in our government. The “big 3” are the FBI, ATF, and the DOJ. These agencies are embedded with Obama holdovers and Clintonites who have positions of authority within. They fully understand “shall not be infringed”, but choose to ignore it. It’s a mystery to me why P-Trump tolerates these LibTards who oppose 2A rights at every opportunity. They have help from the lower courts, and now possibly the highest court. We, the electorate, are to blame for this. We continually elect the same corrupt politicians over and over with the same result….a corrupt… Read more »
Does SCOTUS now have no guts to do their job and is afraid of the liberals and gun control crowd? They just played right into their hands and we are now in great danger of losing our 2nd Amendment right. To me this cowardly act of turning down this case means the gun banners can pass any laws they want banning any guns they want and then the 2nd Amendment no longer exists just like they planned. It makes me wonder if they’re getting paid off as bad as that sounds. I thought with President Trump in office and appointing… Read more »
What do they not under stand about
‘Shall Not Be Infringed”