Major Second Amendment Win—Third Circuit Nullifies Semi‑Auto Rifle and Magazine Limits

By Nathanael Greene

The anti-gun agenda suffered a major legal defeat on Friday when the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that New Jersey’s ban on semi‑automatic rifles and its 10‑round magazine limit violate the Second Amendment.

In a sweeping 10-5 en banc decision, the Third Circuit held that New Jersey’s so-called “assault firearm” ban cannot survive the constitutional test established by the U.S. Supreme Court in its landmark 2022 New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen decision. The court also struck down the state’s 10-round magazine limit.

The 192-page opinion concluded that New Jersey’s prohibition on semi-automatic rifles—including the popular AR-15 platform—and its limits on so‑called “large‑capacity magazines” infringe on the right to keep and bear arms.

Writing for the majority, the court declared:

Applying the framework announced in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022), we agree with the District Court that New Jersey’s ban on Colt AR-15s violates the Second Amendment. 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 LCM Provisions also violate the Second Amendment, so we will REVERSE the District Court’s order with respect to those. Because the LCM Provisions violate the Second Amendment, we need not address the Takings Clause challenge.

As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, U.S. District Judge Peter Sheridan ruled in 2024 New Jersey’s ban on the Colt AR‑15 violated the Second Amendment, finding the rifle is commonly owned by law‑abiding Americans and protected under Heller and Bruen. That ruling left the magazine restriction intact. Friday’s en banc decision goes further—extending constitutional protection to the broader class of semi‑automatic rifles and striking down the magazine ban.

New Jersey’s Assault Firearm Provisions, enacted in 1990 after a California shooting, criminalize possession of a long list of semi‑automatic rifles, pistols, and shotguns, plus anything deemed “substantially identical.” The state made licensing virtually impossible; no civilian has ever obtained such a license.

In 2018, Leftist lawmakers tightened the law again, lowering the “large capacity” magazine threshold from 15 rounds to 10 and forcing residents to surrender, modify, or transfer standard magazines under threat of criminal penalties.

These laws were always about control, not safety, and they created a clear path for future constitutional overreach. Bruen—and now the Third Circuit—cuts that path off. We the People can anticipate the systematic dismantling of unconstitutional restrictions on the Second Amendment.

God speed to the Trump-Vance team and Constitutionalism.