New Jersey assault weapons ban legal challenge

On July 21 2026 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued a 10‑5 decision, authored by Judge Arianna Freeman, that invalidated New Jersey’s ban on modern sporting rifles and standard‑capacity magazines. Applying the Supreme Court’s Heller and Bruen precedents, the court held that firearms “in common use” cannot be broadly prohibited and expanded a prior district‑court finding—limited to certain AR‑15 models—to cover the entire class of semi‑automatic rifles. The ruling set a July 31 deadline for filing a petition for rehearing; barring a rehearing, the decision is slated to take effect on August 7 2026.

State Attorney General Jennifer Davenport clarified the enforcement timetable and noted the Division of Law had recovered $193 million in civil actions during 2025. The Third Circuit opinion is expected to influence challenges to similar assault‑weapon bans in other jurisdictions within the circuit, such as Delaware and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and may shape pending cases in Illinois and Connecticut, while the Supreme Court has agreed to hear two related appeals.

Contemporaneous reporting reiterated the same legal reasoning, underscoring the decision’s potential to shape assault‑weapon‑ban litigation across the Third Circuit and beyond.