Clarence Thomas blasts Supreme Court for punting on legality of AR-15 ban

Justice Clarence Thomas blasted the Supreme Court on Monday for declining to take up a case challenging Maryland’s law banning “assault weapons,” which specifically targets the AR-15 firearm.

The high court denied a petition to hear a case brought by a pro-gun group to overturn a 2013 Maryland law that outlawed various semiautomatic firearms, labeling them illegal “assault weapons.” A lower appeals court ruled 10-5 to uphold the law, which will remain in effect because the Supreme Court declined to take up the case.

Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Thomas said they would have taken up the case. Thomas wrote a blistering dissent to the decision not to hear the challenge, arguing it is...