{"id":117590,"date":"2026-06-30T11:23:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T16:23:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=117590"},"modified":"2026-06-30T11:23:02","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T16:23:02","slug":"117590","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=117590","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoland.com\/2026\/06\/supreme-courts-wolford-decision-could-blow-a-hole-in-new-jerseys-ar-15-ban-defense\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Supreme Court\u2019s Wolford Decision Could Blow A Hole In New Jersey\u2019s AR-15 Ban Defense<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court\u2019s decision in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Wolford-v.-Lopez.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wolford v. Lopez<\/a>\u00a0was about Hawaii\u2019s attempt to turn most private property open to the public into gun-free zones by default. But the ruling may have just handed gun owners in New Jersey a powerful new weapon in the fight against the state\u2019s ban on so-called \u201cassault firearms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On June 26, attorneys for the Cheeseman plaintiffs in Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs v. Attorney General\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoland.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Cheeseman-AppellantsCross-Appellees-RE-Supreme-Court-decision-Wolford-v.-Lopez.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">notified<\/a>\u00a0the Third Circuit that Wolford directly affects the pending challenge to New Jersey\u2019s semiautomatic firearm ban.<\/p>\n<p>Their point is simple: New Jersey cannot force gun owners to prove at the starting line that banned firearms are \u201cin common use\u201d before the Second Amendment even applies. Under Wolford, the first question is much more basic.<\/p>\n<p>Does the law regulate \u201cArms\u201d? If yes, the Constitution is already in play.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ai-viewport-1\" data-insertion-position=\"prepend\" data-selector=\".ai-insert-8-40592511\" data-insertion-no-dbg=\"\" data-code=\"PGRpdiBjbGFzcz0nY29kZS1ibG9jayBjb2RlLWJsb2NrLTgnIHN0eWxlPSdtYXJnaW46IDhweCBhdXRvOyB0ZXh0LWFsaWduOiBjZW50ZXI7IGRpc3BsYXk6IGJsb2NrOyBjbGVhcjogYm90aDsnPgo8IS0tIC8yMjcwMjk5MTMwMS9BbW1vbGFuZC9BTF9Jbi1Db250ZW50X0Rlc2t0b3AgLS0+CjxkaXYgaWQ9J2Rpdi1ncHQtYWQtMTc2NTU1NDM1ODA1Mi0wJyBzdHlsZT0nbWluLXdpZHRoOiA2NDBweDsgbWluLWhlaWdodDogNDgwcHg7Jz4KICA8c2NyaXB0PgogICAgZ29vZ2xldGFnLmNtZC5wdXNoKGZ1bmN0aW9uKCkgeyBnb29nbGV0YWcuZGlzcGxheSgnZGl2LWdwdC1hZC0xNzY1NTU0MzU4MDUyLTAnKTsgfSk7CiAgPC9zY3JpcHQ+CjwvZGl2PjwvZGl2Pgo=\" data-block=\"8\">\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-8\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1765554358052-0\" data-google-query-id=\"CJmDye2ur5UDFR7v0gQdJYINIQ\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/22702991301\/Ammoland\/AL_In-Content_Desktop_0__container__\">\n<div id=\"AmmolandDFPAdParallaxerCont_138545299733\">\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=ammoland&amp;dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=2070584101174718597&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ammoland.com%2F2026%2F06%2Fsupreme-courts-wolford-decision-could-blow-a-hole-in-new-jerseys-ar-15-ban-defense%2F&amp;sessionId=0a5e0cb1032237d68c447ed48a2347bb74b7ed9e&amp;siteScreenName=ammoland&amp;theme=dark&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"2070584101174718597\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Wolford Reaffirms The Plain Text Test<\/h3>\n<p>Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the Court in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoland.com\/2026\/06\/bruen-history-tradition-gun-laws\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wolford<\/a>, explained that Bruen\u2019s first step asks whether the law falls within the Second Amendment\u2019s plain text. That includes whether the law concerns<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoland.com\/2026\/06\/supreme-court-says-courts-cant-smuggle-gun-control-into-bruen-step-one\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u00a0\u201cArms,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0meaning weapons \u201ccustomarily used for offensive or defensive purposes,\u201d according to the Court.<\/p>\n<p class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchorContainer\" data-start=\"1010\" data-end=\"1030\">Phrasing matters. The Second Amendment does not protect only whatever gun a state lawyer is willing to admit is useful for home defense. It does not protect only handguns. It does not protect only muskets. It protects \u201cArms.\u201d And Wolford confirms that the category includes weapons customarily used for offensive or defensive purposes. That is a problem for New Jersey.<\/p>\n<p>That matters in Cheeseman because New Jersey\u2019s ban plainly regulates firearms. Not accessories. Not conduct divorced from arms. Firearms.<\/p>\n<p>The Cheeseman letter seizes on that language, telling the Third Circuit that \u201cthe only predicate question\u201d is whether the law concerns \u201cArms.\u201d The plaintiffs argue that the answer is \u201cbeyond dispute,\u201d meaning the Second Amendment presumptively protects possession of the banned firearms. From there, the burden shifts to New Jersey.<\/p>\n<p>That is the part anti-gun states hate. They want gun owners trapped in a never-ending preliminary debate over whether AR-15s, modern semiautomatic rifles, and similar arms are common enough, useful enough, or favored enough by judges to count. Wolford makes that harder.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h3>New Jersey\u2019s Common-Use Argument Takes A Hit<\/h3>\n<p>New Jersey has argued that \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoland.com\/2026\/03\/calce-v-city-of-new-york-puts-common-use-burden-at-center-of-second-amendment-fight\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">common use<\/a>\u201d belongs at the threshold stage of the case. In other words, the state wants courts to ask whether the banned arms are common before deciding whether the Second Amendment applies.<\/p>\n<p>The Cheeseman plaintiffs say Wolford rejects that exact move.<\/p>\n<p>Quoting Wolford, the letter notes that such considerations are \u201cout of place at Bruen\u2019s first step.\u201d At that stage, the Court said, the question is whether the law falls within the Second Amendment\u2019s \u201cplain text.\u201d That distinction is critical.<\/p>\n<p>Common use still matters, but not the way New Jersey wants it to matter. Under Heller and Bruen, the government may try to defend a ban by proving the arms are \u201cdangerous and unusual.\u201d But that is the government\u2019s burden. It is not supposed to be a precondition gun owners must satisfy before their rights are recognized.<\/p>\n<p>New Jersey does not get to say, \u201cProve your guns are protected before we have to justify banning them.\u201d Wolford says the plain text comes first.<\/p>\n<h4>Barrett\u2019s Concurrence Makes The Point Even Sharper<\/h4>\n<p>Justice Amy Coney Barrett\u2019s concurrence is also important for Cheeseman. She warned against letting governments \u201csmuggle additional limits\u201d into the plain-text stage of Second Amendment analysis.<\/p>\n<p>That is exactly what New Jersey appears to be trying to do. If a state can redefine Bruen step one by importing parts of the historical analysis into the threshold question, then the government can water down the Second Amendment before the real test even begins.<\/p>\n<p>That gives the Cheeseman plaintiffs a clean response. The Second Amendment protects \u201cthe right of the people to keep and bear Arms.\u201d Once a ban targets arms and restricts possession, the state has to justify the restriction through history and tradition.<\/p>\n<h4>Jackson\u2019s Dissent Helps Clarify The Fight<\/h4>\n<p>Interestingly, the Cheeseman letter also points to Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson\u2019s dissent. Jackson disagreed with the majority\u2019s application of Bruen, but she described the majority\u2019s rule as requiring courts to look only to the Second Amendment\u2019s \u201cplain text\u201d at step one.<\/p>\n<p>That matters because even the dissent understood what the majority had done. Wolford separates the plain-text inquiry from the historical-analogue inquiry. The plaintiffs in Cheeseman are now telling the Third Circuit to apply that separation to New Jersey\u2019s rifle ban.<\/p>\n<h3>The End of Assault Weapon Bans?<\/h3>\n<p>Wolford was not an \u201cassault weapon\u201d case, and it did not directly decide whether bans on AR-15s are unconstitutional. But Supreme Court decisions often reshape pending cases by clarifying the test lower courts must use.<\/p>\n<p>Here, the clarification is bad news for New Jersey.<\/p>\n<p>Modern semiautomatic rifles are unquestionably \u201cArms.\u201d They are weapons. They are owned by millions of Americans. They are used for lawful purposes, including self-defense, training, competition, and home protection. Under Wolford, that should be enough to trigger Second Amendment protection at the plain-text stage.<\/p>\n<p>Then New Jersey must prove its ban fits the nation\u2019s historical tradition of firearm regulation. That is where these bans have always been weakest. There is no founding-era tradition of banning an entire class of commonly owned firearms because politicians dislike their appearance, features, or popularity.<\/p>\n<p>The Third Circuit now has fresh Supreme Court guidance sitting directly in front of it.<\/p>\n<p>For New Jersey gun owners, Wolford may not be the final shot in Cheeseman. But it may have just made the state\u2019s job a whole lot harder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supreme Court\u2019s Wolford Decision Could Blow A Hole In New Jersey\u2019s AR-15 Ban Defense The Supreme Court\u2019s decision in\u00a0Wolford v. Lopez\u00a0was about Hawaii\u2019s attempt to turn most private property open to the public into gun-free zones by default. But the ruling may have just handed gun owners in New Jersey a powerful new weapon in &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=117590\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,50,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-courts","category-goobermint","category-rkba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=117590"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117591,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117590\/revisions\/117591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=117590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=117590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=117590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}