The Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a challenge brought by firearm owners and gun rights groups over a semiautomatic weapon ban in Connecticut. Opponents of the ban argue that it violates their Second Amendment rights, and that they use such weapons for "self-defense, hunting, and recreational shooting," Reuters reports. New York State has a similar ban on assault weapons.
The court's decision follows the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history when a gunman wielding an assault rifle killed 49 at an Orlando nightclub. The national assault weapon ban expired in 2004; the Supreme Court has not decided a major gun case since 2010.
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