On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld Maryland’s ban on AR-15s and similar rifles, claiming that such firearms are “highly unusual in society.”
The lawsuit challenging the ban, Bianchi v. Brown, was brought by the Firearms Policy Coalition, the Second Amendment Foundation, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and numerous private citizens.
The Fourth Circuit upheld Maryland’s ban in a 10-5 decision, with Ronald Reagan appointee J. Harvie Wilkinson writing the majority opinion.
Wilkinson pointed to Heller (2008), suggesting it presented a balance between “individual and societal interests” as to “what arms may be kept and carried” in this country.
He wrote, “As recognized in Heller, “the Second Amendment right . . . extends only to certain types of weapons”; it is “not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.”
With a continued focus on Heller, Wilkinson wrote:
Arms typically used by average citizens for self-defense are generally within the ambit of the Second Amendment, presumably because these arms had proven over time to effectively amplify an individual’s…power to protect himself without empowering him to singlehandedly reign terror upon a community. …But other weapons—variously referred to as “dangerous or unusual,” …could be banned without infringing upon the right to bear arms.
Near his conclusion, Wilkinson wrote, “Maryland’s statute bans AR-15s and other semiautomatic rifles with characteristics that make them…highly unusual in society.”
Ironically, these “highly unusual” firearms represent the most popular rifle in America.
The latest data from the National Shooting Sports Foundation indicates there are over 28 million AR- and AK-style rifles in circulation.
The case is Bianchi v. Brown No. 21-1255 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at
