Supreme Court Leaves Intact ‘Assault Weapons’ Bans for Now

A salesperson shows an AR-15 rifle to a customer at a store in Utah.

Photographer: George Frey/Bloomberg

A divided US Supreme Court declined to consider a new expansion of constitutional gun rights, turning away challenges to a Maryland ban on so-called assault weapons and a Rhode Island prohibition on high-capacity magazines.

The justices left intact federal appeals court decisions backing the bans against attacks under the Constitution’s Second Amendment.