By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
A coalition of 20 state attorneys general, led by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, has filed an amicus brief supporting an appeal to the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals by gun rights groups seeking a reversal of a lower court ruling upholding Delaware’s ban on so-called “assault weapons.”
According to an announcement from Knudsen’s office, the brief was filed “in support of Delaware State Sportsmen’s Association, Inc. in their case against the Delaware Department of Safety and Homeland Security stating that two Delaware bills violate the Second Amendment.”
Knudsen and his colleagues, all Republicans, contend two new laws in President Joe Biden’s home state are unconstitutional. The measures are House Bill 450, which lists 44 so-called “assault weapons” (rifles) and another 19 “assault pistols,” and Substitute Senate Bill 6, which bans original capacity magazines.
Joining Knudsen are AGs from Attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
“The Second Amendment stands as a reminder to state governments that ‘the people’ have a ‘pre-existing’ right to keep and bear arms,” the brief explains. “And it extends to all ‘bearable arms,’ including arms carried ‘for offensive or defensive action in a case of conflict.’”
Knudsen has become prominent for opposing restrictive gun control laws, which he says target the rights of Montana gun owners, as well as the firearms industry.
As reported earlier, gun rights organizations including the Second Amendment Foundation are also asking the Third Circuit court to overturn the lower court ruling which upheld the Delaware gun control laws.
A total of three cases are being appealed, including two involving SAF. They are known as Graham v. Jennings and Gray v. Jennings. The cases were originally filed in January.
SAF and its fellow plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Bradley P. Lehman at Gellert Scali Busenkell & Brown in Wilmington, Del., and David H Thompson, Peter A. Patterson and John D. Ohlendorf at Cooper & Kirk in Washington, D.C.
Other plaintiffs are Firearms Policy Coalition, DJJAMS LLC and individual citizens Owen Stevens and Christopher Graham, William Taylor and Gabriel Gray.
The cases have been consolidated for this stage of litigation.
In the release from Knudsen’s office, the coalition explains that in the wake of District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) and New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen (2022), “the courts must determine whether modern firearm regulations are consistent with the Second Amendment’s text and historical understanding, and Delaware fails to show that its so-called ‘assault weapon’ and LCM bans align with this nation’s tradition of firearm regulation. While one of Delaware’s experts in the case points to multiple historical state regulations which were designed to reduce criminal activity at the time, none of those regulations imposed an outright ban on the prohibited arms. Therefore, the burden HB 450 and SS1 both impose is not similar or justified based on the rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment.”
This is not the first time Republican attorneys general have joined in filing an amicus brief supporting challenges to gun control laws. Last year, 25 AGs signed onto a brief supporting a lawsuit filed by SAF, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and other groups seeking to overturn Maryland’s “assault weapon” ban.
Knudsen and 22 other AGs also sued over the Biden administration’s pistol brace rule by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Named as defendants in that lawsuit are U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, ATF Director Steve Dettelbach and the ATF.
