Supreme Court dodges several new gun-related cases, including challenge to Illinois assault weapons ban

The Supreme Court in Washington.
AP

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday sidestepped a new round of Second Amendment litigation, declining to hear a challenge to an Illinois assault weapons ban and sending other gun cases back to lower courts, including a challenge to the law used to convict Hunter Biden.

The moves came after the justices upheld a gun law meant to protect victims of domestic violence, the first gun rights case after a landmark decision two years ago that expanded gun rights. The court has another gun case on its agenda for the fall, weighing a Biden administration appeal over regulation of hard-to-trace ghost guns.

The justices set aside for another day questions about other state and federal gun restrictions that have arisen in the wake of the 2022 decision known as Bruen, which said gun laws must be based on historical tradition to remain on the books.

Justice Samuel Alito dissented from the Supreme Court's decision not to hear a challenge to Illinois' assault weapons ban this fall, and Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in a statement that he hoped to take up the case again after lower courts issue final judgments.

The law was passed after a mass shooting at an Independence Day parade in 2022 in suburban Chicago that left seven people dead. Ten states and the District of Columbia now ban semi-automatic weapons, often called assault weapons, according to the gun control group Brady, which tracks the legislation.

Another gun case challenging the law used to convict Hunter Biden has been sent back to lower courts for reconsideration after the Supreme Court's June ruling in the domestic violence-related gun case.

The justices asked the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider their ruling that struck down a longstanding ban on drug users owning guns. Hunter Biden’s defense attorneys have cited that decision as they fight the case against him for buying a gun during a period when he was addicted to drugs.

The Supreme Court also sent back to lower courts several cases challenging a law that banned people convicted of felonies from owning guns. One was Bryan Range, a Pennsylvania man convicted in 1995 of falsifying his income to get food stamps for his family. An appeals court ruled that a lifetime ban on gun ownership violated his Second Amendment rights.

The justices also sent back a case challenging a gun law in New York, the same state that gave rise to the Supreme Court's Bruen decision.

New York state passed a new law after judges struck down its strict concealed carry law. The law opened the door for more people to obtain gun permits, while imposing restrictions on where guns can be carried, including playgrounds, schools, theaters, places where alcohol is served and buses.

An appeals court blocked parts of the measure, but allowed the state to continue banning guns in certain “sensitive” locations and denying gun permits to dangerous people.