A Massachusetts federal judge dismissed a lawsuit on Friday that challenged the state’s assault weapons ban, according to The Hill.
The lawsuit was filed by the Gun Owners Action League of Massachusetts in 2017, who sued claiming the law infringed on their Second Amendment rights.
Judge William Young’s ruling stated that the state’s ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines does not violate the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment.
Firearms and large magazines banned by the state in 1998 are “not within the scope of the personal right to ‘bear Arms’ under the Second Amendment,” he added.
Federal judge upholds Massachusetts assault weapons ban https://t.co/EoVsbqMMX5
— Neal Pritchard (@Nealwp_NY) April 8, 2018
“The features of a military-style rifle are designed and intended to be particularly suitable for combat rather than sporting applications. Other states are equally free to leave them unregulated and available to their law-abiding citizens. These policy matters are simply not of Constitutional moment. Americans are not afraid of bumptious, raucous and robust debate about these matters. We call it democracy,” Young wrote in his decision.
The 20-year-old ban was passed directly through elected representatives.
“Strong gun laws save lives, and we will not be intimidated by the gun lobby in our efforts to end the sale of assault weapons and protect our communities and schools. Families across the nation should take heart in this victory,” said Attorney General Maura Healey in a Facebook post.
Healey was also a named defendant in the lawsuit.
“Like all law-abiding Massachusetts gun owners, the NRA was extremely disappointed that the court upheld Massachusetts’s ban on many of the most popular firearms in America,” the National Rifle Association said in a statement.
State laws have been challenged across the country since the Parkland high school shooting in February that left 17 dead.
