Assault weapons not protected by Second Amendment, US appeals court rules

'We have no power to extend Second Amendment protection to the weapons of war', wrote Maryland's Judge Robert King

Maryland banned the AR-15 and other military-style rifles and shotguns and limited magazine capacity to 10 rounds in response to the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012 (PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)

Assault weapons are not protected under the Second Amendment of the US Constitution, a federal appeals court has ruled.

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth circuit ruled 10-4 to uphold Maryland's ban on assault weapons, a law made in response to the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012.

"Put simply, we have no power to extend Second Amendment protection to the weapons of war," Judge Robert King wrote, referring to the "military-style rifles" that were also used during mass shootings in Aurora, Colorado, San Bernardino, California, and Orlando, Florida.

These are "places whose names have become synonymous with the slaughters that occurred there," he added, noting the Supreme Court's decision in the 2008 District of Columbia v Heller case excluded coverage of assault weapons.

The US has some of the most permissive gun rights in the world. After Congress became a graveyard for gun control legislation, some states enacted their own measures.

In total, seven states and the District of Colombia have laws banning semi-automatic rifles.

Four appeal courts have rejected Second Amendment challenges to bans on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, Mr King wrote.

In 2015, US District Judge Catherine Blake upheld Maryland's law banning the AR-15 and other military-style rifles and shotguns and limiting magazine capacity to 10 rounds, but a smaller panel of circuit court judges reversed her ruling in 2016.

The case could be eventually be heard by the Supreme Court.

The majority "has gone to greater lengths than any other court to eviscerate the constitutionally guaranteed right to keep and bear arms," Judge William Traxler wrote in the dissent of the ruling.

Additional reporting by Reuters