What are commonly referred to as Assault Weapons on display and for sale at the Virginia Gun Show, Chantilly, Virginia
Credit: REX/Shutterstock

In the absence of any meaningful action from Washington to address the increase in American mass shootings involving assault weapons, some states, like Massachusetts, have taken measures of their own to ban high-capacity guns within their borders. And a recent ruling by the First Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a legal challenge to just such a ban, confirming that citizens on the state level have the right to determine which guns will be allowed, the Boston Globe reported.

“This case concerns an issue of paramount importance,” the ruling said. “In the wake of increasingly frequent acts of mass violence committed with semiautomatic assault weapons and [large-capacity magazines], the interests of state and local governments in regulating the possession and use of such weapons are entitled to great weight.”

It also stated that there is “ample evidence of the unique dangers posed by the proscribed weapons.”

The First Circuit’s ruling […]