Look, I can't make this up. New Jersey just asked the Supreme Court to undo a constitutional victory for gun owners.
Here's what happened: Back in July, the Third Circuit struck down New Jersey's bans on AR-15s and magazines over ten rounds. Ten out of fifteen judges agreed these prohibitions were unconstitutional. That's a big deal - the court recognized that you can't just slap an "assault weapon" label on commonly owned firearms and strip away constitutional protections.
But New Jersey's attorney general apparently didn't get the message. On October 1st, she filed a petition asking SCOTUS to hold New Jersey's case until the Court decides Viramontes v. Cook County and Grant v. Higgins - two big AR-15 cases slated for argument on December 2nd. Then, if the High Court agrees, New Jersey wants its case sent back to the lower courts for another shot at defending these bans.
Translation: They want a do-over after losing.
Now here's why this matters to you and me. The Viramontes and Grant cases don't directly address magazine bans, but New Jersey is arguing the ruling will affect magazine restrictions too because the legal methodology overlaps. They're trying to get ahead of whatever rule SCOTUS announces.
The constitutional principle at stake is simple: the government can't ban commonly possessed arms for lawful purposes just because politicians call them scary names. An AR-15 doesn't lose protection because lawmakers slap an "assault firearm" label on it. A standard capacity magazine doesn't become unconstitutional because they decided ten rounds is the magic number.
The Third Circuit got it right. But New Jersey's still fighting, and they've already secured a stay - meaning their bans remain in effect while this plays out. So Garden State residents are still stuck with unconstitutional restrictions while the lawyers do their thing.
What we need now is a clear Supreme Court ruling that tells lower courts they can't evade the Second Amendment through legislative labels and artificial distinctions. New Jersey's petition shows exactly how much is riding on this.