A Federal District Court from New Jersey struck down part of the state’s “assault firearms” ban while letting the ban on “large capacity” magazines (LCM) stand.

The three cases were heard by United States District Court Judge Peter G. Sheridan. The first case was the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs, Inc. (ANJRPC) v. Platkin; the second was Cheesman v. Platkin, which was filed by the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), and the third was Blake v. Platkin, which was also filed by ANJRPC. All the cases were consolidated because they all challenged the same New Jersey law. The first two cases sought summary judgment, and the third case was a cross-motion for summary judgment.

All the cases challenged the New Jersey “assault firearms” law, claiming that the state’s regulatory scheme was unconstitutional under the Second and Fourteenth Amendments. They argue that the state cannot regulate “assault firearms” under both the Heller and the Bruen Supreme Court opinions. They also claim that the LCM Amendment (ban on magazines holding more than ten rounds) to the “assault firearms” law also violated Constitutionally protected rights.

New Jersey moved for Summary Judgement, claiming the state’s law was Constitutional. The judge, a George W. Bush appointee, seemed to want to decide for the state but said he was bound by the rulings of the Supreme Court since the District Court is a lower court, and a SCOTUS decision outranks his beliefs.

“It is hard to accept the Supreme Court’s pronouncements that certain firearms policy choices are ‘off the table’ when frequently, radical individuals possess and use these same firearms for evil purposes,” the judge wrote. “Even so, the Court’s decision today is dictated by one of the most elementary legal principles within our legal system: stare decisis. That is, where the Supreme Court has set forth the law of our Nation, as a lower court, I am bound to follow it. This principle-combined with the reckless inaction of our governmental leaders to address the mass shooting tragedy afflicting our Nation-necessitates the Court’s decision. For these reasons and those below, the AR-15 Provision of Assault Firearms Law is unconstitutional. The LCM Amendment is constitutional.”

Possibly to limit the ruling, the judge crafted a narrow decision only to the AR-15, thus leaving the rest of the law in place. It was worth noting the judge only addressed the constitutionality of the AR-15 ban and LMC Amendment while sidestepping the bigger question of whether the entire law was Constitutional. Many claim the judge was trying to limit the damage to New Jersey’s anti-gun stance.

New Jersey tried to rely on an 1830 law banning Bowie knives to try to show a historical analog. The judge was unmoved, citing that the AR-15 is in common use and, under Heller, cannot be banned. He didn’t use the same critical thinking for magazines, disregarding the need for a historical analog from the founding era since the design for a detachable magazine wasn’t patented until 1847 and wasn’t in wide circulation until the late 19th century. In the 1920s, some states regulated magazine sizes for semi-automatic firearms, so the judge relied on these laws for his ruling.

Eventually, the judge struck down the ban on Colt AR-15 rifles and not all AR-15-style rifles, claiming that the plaintiff’s main concerns were with the AR-15. This move was likely done to narrow the ruling as much as possible. He upheld the LCM Amendment of the “assault firearms” ban. The judge stated that Bruen and Heller both allow for a magazine ban. He relied on a pre-Bruen ruling about magazines by the Third Circuit of Appeals to reach his conclusion about the Constitutionality of the LMC Amendment and claimed that Bruen didn’t affect the Third Circuit’s decision.

The judge stayed his ruling for 30 days to give New Jersey time to appeal the ruling to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. FPC filed a notice of appeal on the same day the order was issued.

About John Crump

John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. Mr. Crump 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 can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.