Attorney General Raúl Labrador, along with representatives from 28 other states, has submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court of the United States. The coalition is requesting a writ of certiorari for the case of Snope v. Brown, in which the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Maryland's ban on numerous firearm styles, including the AR-15.
"It is gravely concerning for a federal court to blatantly ignore the most recent clarifying decisions regarding the right to keep and bear arms to ever come from SCOTUS," said Attorney General Labrador. "The AR-15 is the most common and prolific semiautomatic rifle in our country and the very definition of a firearm used for sport, personal protection and civil defense. These arms are lawfully owned and used by tens of millions of citizens across the country, and a textbook definition of the firearms protected by the Second Amendment from capricious government overreach."
The Fourth Circuit's decision conflicts with recent Supreme Court rulings. The court relied on limited historical evidence that has already been reviewed and dismissed by SCOTUS. The Fourth Circuit concluded that there is a tradition in America of banning commonly owned firearms like the AR-15.
"There is no such tradition. Nor could there be in a free nation," argues Labrador.
The brief further contends: "...there is no principled distinction between weapons that are 'for military use' and weapons that are 'for private use.' By pretending otherwise, the Fourth Circuit authorizes itself to ignore the Second Amendment whenever it thinks a weapon looks too much like a soldier’s. And this leaves citizens, businesses, and regulators guessing as to what supposedly makes an arm ‘most useful in military service’ – after all, the Fourth Circuit said that even weapons with only semi-automatic capabilities may be considered best suited for military…even if the military does not actually use such weapons."
Attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska New Hampshire North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia West Virginia Wyoming Arizona Wisconsin have joined Idaho's Attorney General Labrador in this effort.