| THIRD CIRCUIT DENIES MAG BAN APPEAL, BUT DISSENT LAYS GROUNDWORK FOR POSSIBLE REHEARING
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| September 1, 2020. In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit today ruled against ANJRPC's appeal in its lawsuit to overturn New Jersey’s ban on magazines over 10 rounds of ammunition. See a copy of the decision here.
The court ruled on a purely procedural basis. It found that because a previous three-judge panel upheld the mag ban on an early motion for an injunction when the case first began in 2018, the current three-judge panel could not decide the case differently. Whether the mag ban was unconstitutional was not even considered.
In a strongly worded dissent from Trump-appointed Judge Paul Matey, the judge found fault with the majority's reasoning. Judge Matey argued that, because the previous panel did not treat all of the issues in the case, the court was entirely free to find differently now. Judge Matey also urged that the Third Circuit should scrap its current approach to Second Amendment cases, which differs significantly from the approach emphasized in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision D.C. v. Heller. Judge Matey effectively suggested that the appeal should be taken up fresh by the full Third Circuit (not merely a three-judge panel) -- a process known as “rehearing en banc.”
ANJRPC is currently considering all options available in the case, and will announce its next steps once a decision has been made with counsel.
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