NRA calls 3rd Circuit ruling on New Jersey’s automatic weapons ban ‘historic’

An appeals court on Friday overturned New Jersey’s ban on automatic rifles and magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds, prompting the National Rifle Association (NRA) to call the decision a “historic victory” in a case the gun rights group has been filing since 2018.

In a heated en banc decision, the 3rd US circuit court in Philadelphia held that New Jersey’s assault rifle restrictions and large magazine restrictions violate the Second Amendment.

The court extended the lower court’s decision by declaring the state’s so-called “assault-gun” ban unconstitutional as it applies to the full category of automatic rifles, not just the AR-15, and struck down New Jersey’s ban on automatic rifles and its limits on magazines that can hold more than 10.

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“This is a case against the NRA that we’ve been suing since 2018, so it’s a big win,” Justin Davis, executive director of public affairs for the National Rifle Association, told Fox News Digital.

The NRA celebrated the decision in a statement, calling it a major victory for gun owners across the country.

“Today marks a historic victory for the NRA, the Second Amendment, and law-abiding Americans,” the organization said.

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A male buyer signs paperwork next to an AR-15 rifle with a scope at a gun store, confirming the purchase in accordance with state laws. (Svetlana’s Day via Getty Images, File)

“The Third Circuit struck down this illegal assault weapons ban and magazine ban in New Jersey, affirming what we’ve known all along: the right to keep and bear arms, including firearms owned by ordinary people and with standard magazines, is important and cannot be infringed upon by politicians who prioritize the regulation of constitutional liberties.”

“This decision protects the rights of millions of loyal gun owners in the Garden State and serves as an alternative to our efforts to dismantle gun control across the country.”

Writing for the majority, US District Judge Arianna Freeman, a Biden appointee, said the Supreme Court’s Second Amendment decisions in District of Columbia v. Heller, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen and subsequent cases require governments to show modern gun restrictions are consistent with America’s historic tradition of gun control.

Using that framework, the court concluded that New Jersey failed to meet that burden.

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The NRA celebrated the decision in a statement, calling it a major victory for gun owners across the country.

The majority concluded that New Jersey’s ban on semiautomatic rifles violated the Second Amendment and overturned a district court decision upholding the state’s ban on magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds.

The idea said that New Jersey enacted its “handgun law” in 1990, following a shooting at an elementary school in California.

According to the court, the governor of the time described the banned guns as “guns capable of destroying all property” that were designed to kill a large number of people in a very short time.

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The majority concluded that automatic firearms and magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds are protected by the Second Amendment and that New Jersey has failed to demonstrate the restrictions are consistent with America’s historic tradition of gun control.

Several justices dissented, saying that the guns banned are unusually dangerous weapons that states have long had the authority to regulate and that the ruling conflicts with all other federal appeals courts to uphold similar state restrictions.