Third Circuit Keeps New Jersey Gun and Magazine Ban in Place for Now

The Third Circuit’s decision striking down New Jersey’s ban on so-called assault weapons and large capacity magazine will remain on hold for a few months, after the appellate court granted Attorney General Jennifer Davenport’s request for a stay of its mandate while the state appeals its loss to the Supreme Court. 

The brief order states that “Issuance of this Court’s mandate is stayed pending the Supreme Court’s disposition of movants’ anticipated petition for writ of certiorari or until the until the time for filing such a petition has expired. Should movants’ anticipated petition for writ of certiorari be granted, the stay of this Court’s mandate shall remain in place pending the Supreme Court’s final disposition on the merits.”

At best, then, the earliest New Jersey residents will be able to legally purchase the firearms and magazines prohibited by state law is late October. The state’s deadline to file a cert petition with SCOTUS is October 15, but Davenport could request a 60-day extension from the Supreme Court justice assigned to handle emergency and administrative matters from the Third Circuit. 

That justice is Samuel Alito, and of all the justices I’d say he’s the most likely to deny Davenport’s request if she asks. It’s far more common, though, for the justices to grant those requests, so there’s a good chance that New Jersey’s cert petition won’t be filed until mid-December. 

Granting cert or holding on to the case until the justices release their decision in Viramontes and Grant (the “assault weapon” cases that will be heard next term) are both distinct possibilities, and I’d give better odds for either of those things happening than SCOTUS denying the petition outright. 

In short, it may very well be quite some time before the Garden State’s gun and magazine ban is officially wiped off the books. 

(Also, this saves us from the year of dooming had 3rd Circuit denied it, then SCOTUS granted it)

— Kostas Moros (@MorosKostas) August 4, 2026

What about SCOTUS consolidating ANJRPC/Cheeseman with the AWB cases they’ve already agreed to hear? I don’t think the timing works for that scenario. New Jersey’s cert petition is due on October 15 (but could be pushed back to December). The petitioner’s merits brief in Viramontes/Grant is due on August 28, and the reply brief from the defendants is due on October 21. If New Jersey requests that two-month extension in filing its cert petition, Viramontes/Grant will have been fully briefed and will be awaiting oral arguments by the time the cert petition is filed in ANJRPC/Cheeseman. 

Even if the timing did align, I’m not sure that SCOTUS would agree to consolidate the cases. The justices had the opportunity to grant cert to one or both of the cases challenging magazine bans at the end of last term, but chose to hold on to them instead of denying or granting cert outright. That could change this fall, but as of now it sure looks like the Court plans on holding those cases until it’s decided whether bans on so-called assault weapons are constitutional. 

Today’s news from the Third Circuit is disappointing, especially for the New Jersey residents who were looking forward to once again being able to purchase and legally possess some of the most popular arms in the country. It’s hard to be told “patience” when Garden State gun owners have already waited so long to claw back some of their Second Amendment rights, but that’s the unfortunate reality they’re stuck with. 

Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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