Legal decision casts doubt on Maryland’s assault weapons ban

[branford]

A federal appeals court on Thursday cast doubt on the legality of Maryland’s 2013 ban on semiautomatic high-capacity assault weapons that passed after the mass shootings at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school.

The 2-to-1 decision by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit sends the gun-control law back to a lower court for review, but allows the existing ban to remain in place.

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Specifically, the court’s opinion Thursday directs U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake, who sits in Baltimore, to apply a strict standard of legal review when considering the government’s interest in protecting public safety.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/appeals-court-decision-casts-doubt-on-marylands-assault-weapons-ban/2016/02/04/8a234240-cb59-11e5-88ff-e2d1b4289c2f_story.html