The Supreme Court’s decision in Wolford v. Lopez has led to legal fallout across the country, with one federal appeals court striking down New Jersey’s long-standing ban on modern semiautomatic firearms.
The high court ruled in Wolford v. Lopez that Hawaii’s law requiring private property owners who wished to allow concealed carry on the premises to clearly post signs that carrying guns, also known as the “vampire rule,” was allowed was unconstitutional. After that ruling, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit requested supplemental briefs in Cheeseman v. Platkin, a case challenging New Jersey’s ban on so-called “assault weapons” on Second Amendment grounds by July 10 to address the effects of Wolford.
On Friday, the Third Circuit shot down not just New Jersey’s ban on modern semi-automatic firearms, it also invalidated the state’s ban on detachable magazines holding more than ten rounds in an en banc ruling.
“Applying the framework announced in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, we agree with the District Court that New Jersey’s ban on Colt AR-15s violates the Second Amendment,” the court said in the opinion written by Circuit Judge Arianna Freeman, a Biden appointee. “However, because the record supports the same result for all semi-automatic rifles—not only Colt AR-15s—we will MODIFY the District Court’s order so that it deems the Assault Firearm Provisions unconstitutional with respect to the full class of semi-automatic rifles. We will AFFIRM that part of the order as modified.”
The Wolford decision didn’t just affect the New Jersey case. In a case from Texas, the Department of Justice asked the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to dismiss an appeal of a ruling that struck down a ban on carrying firearms in post offices Thursday.
“Pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 42(b), defendant-appellant hereby moves to voluntarily dismiss this appeal, with each party to bear its own costs,” the Thursday filing said. “Counsel for plaintiffs-appellees indicated that plaintiffs-appellees do not oppose this motion.”
Chief Judge Reed O’Connor of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, a George W. Bush nominee, issued a nationwide injunction on Sept. 30, 2025, blocking enforcement of a provision in federal law and a regulation as they pertained to carrying firearms.
The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) announced Tuesday it was filing supplemental briefs in three cases involving Second Amendment challenges to provisions of the National Firearms Act of 1934 that would cite the high court’s Wolford ruling.
“With those rulings in hand, we are now able to better explain to the courts exactly why the remaining registration scheme left in the NFA lacks constitutional authority and is a direct violation of Americans’ Second Amendment rights,” SAF Senior Director of Legal Operations Bill Sack said. “We are hopeful these cases will move expeditiously and rightfully restore the full constitutional rights of gun owners across the nation.”
The National Rifle Association and the Illinois State Rifle Association cited the Wolford decision when suing to toss out a 72-hour waiting period in Illinois.
The high court granted writs of certiorari in Viramontes v. Cook County, Illinois and Grant v. Higgins, cases involving bans on modern semiautomatic firearms imposed by Cook County, Illinois, and Connecticut, on June 30, five days after deciding the Wolford case.
(DCNF)