Supreme Court Sidesteps New Gun Cases as It Closes Out Term

Handguns at the Springfield Armory booth during the National Rifle Association (NRA) annual convention in Dallas, Texas, US, on Saturday, May 18, 2024. This year's annual convention is the first in many years without Wayne LaPierre leading the organization, after the National Rifle Association and its longtime leader were found liable for violating New York law with lavish spending of donor funds back in February.

(Bloomberg) -- The US Supreme Court opted not to add any new gun-rights cases to its agenda for the fall, sidestepping a bevy of appeals over the Constitution’s Second Amendment as the justices wound down their nine-month term.

The court refused to hear challenges to bans in Illinois on assault-style weapons and large-capacity magazines, turning away a group of appeals that contended the state and local measures violate the Constitution’s Second Amendment.

The justices also told a lower court to take a fresh look at New York’s new concealed-carry licensing rules and its ban on weapons in buses, parks and crowded venues. The justices ordered reconsideration in light of their June 21 decision upholding a federal gun ban for people under domestic-violence orders. A federal appeals court had upheld the New York restrictions.

And the high court for now declined to consider the constitutionality of the federal bans on firearm possession by convicted felons and by drug users and addicts, sending a group of cases back to lower courts for reconsideration as well.

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