Federal appeals court says assault rifles are ‘weapons of war’ not protected by Second Amendment

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A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that assault rifles and other so-called “weapons of war” are not protected under the Second Amendment.

The New York Daily News reports the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit decision upheld Maryland’s ban on assault rifles, which was passed in 2013 in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.

It cited a 2008 Supreme Court case which said that weapons “most useful in military service” are not covered by the Constitution.

In the opinion, one judge wrote that assault rifles are “devastating weapons of war whose only legitimate purpose is to lay waste to a battlefield full of combatants.”

Only seven states and the District of Columbia have laws banning the sale or ownership of assault rifles.

Corrie O'Connor