Third Circuit Court Strikes Down New Jersey’s Assault Weapons and High-Capacity Magazine Restrictions

A three-judge panel from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals delivered a decision Friday that struck down New Jersey statutes restricting so-called assault firearms and ammunition magazines with capacity exceeding 10 rounds. The ruling marks the first time a federal appellate court has invalidated such state-level gun restrictions, setting a significant legal precedent in Second Amendment jurisprudence.

The decision arrives as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares oral arguments on whether semiautomatic rifle bans can survive constitutional scrutiny. The 3rd Circuit’s action stands in stark contrast to a separate federal appeals court ruling issued days earlier upholding Illinois’ comparable restrictions on the same weapons and magazine types.

The appellate panel went further than a district court ruling from July 2024, which had invalidated New Jersey’s specific ban on AR-15-style weapons while preserving restrictions on magazine capacity. The three-judge panel rejected both prohibitions entirely.

New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, defending the law, criticized the decision and questioned its legal reasoning. She noted that every other federal circuit that has considered such restrictions previously upheld them as constitutional.

“Large-capacity magazines and these weapons categories fuel mass shooting incidents nationwide, and New Jersey acted within its constitutional authority to regulate them,” Davenport said in a statement. The attorney general indicated the state would examine all available legal options in response to the adverse ruling.

John Commerford, head of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, hailed the decision as groundbreaking. He argued the court properly determined that governments cannot restrict citizens’ firearms rights through regulatory means.