A federal appeals court on Monday upheld gun control laws — passed in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre — banning the possession of semi-automatic assault weapons in New York and Connecticut.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York upheld the central provisions of the laws that ban semi-automatic assault weapons and magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition, rejecting an argument from a group of plaintiffs — including firearms dealers and sports shooters — that such a ban infringed on their Second Amendment rights.
"Because the prohibitions are substantially related to the important governmental interests of public safety and crime reduction, they pass constitutional muster," Judge José A. Cabranes wrote for the court.
However, the appeals court did strike down a New York prohibition on loading magazines with more than seven rounds of ammunition, as well as a Connecticut ban on the Remington 7615, a non-semi-automatic weapon.
The laws were passed by the two states after the deaths of 20 children and six adults in the Connecticut elementary school in December 2012.
New York chose to strengthen its existing gun control laws by banning any semi-automatic firearm that could be classified as an "assault weapon" under a stricter test.
Under that new test, a weapon was banned if it contained military-style features, including a telescoping stock, a conspicuously protruding pistol grip, a thumbhole stock, a bayonet mount, a flash suppressor, a barrel shroud, and a grenade launch.
Connecticut also introduced ban on large-capacity magazines and a stricter test for what constituted an assault weapon, and also implemented bans on 183 specific assault weapons.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo praised the court's decision as a victory for common sense.
"This case validates a simple, fundamental truth about gun control: that it is possible to have strong laws that keep our communities safe, while at the same time respecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners," he said in a statement.
Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy said the court made the right decision.
"Connecticut has struck the right constitutional balance between access to firearms and public safety," he said in a statement. "Today's decision acknowledges our state government's obligation to take every sensible step toward reducing gun violence."
National Rifle Association spokesman Lars Dalseide told BuzzFeed News the decision ran counter to past Supreme Court rulings.
"This isn't surprising given the lower courts history of ignoring Second Amendment rights, so now we must look to the highest court in the land to reverse this decision and reaffirm our constitutional right to self-protection," he said.
