Capen v. Campbell

What the court held

A Massachusetts resident and the National Association for Gun Rights brought a facial Second Amendment challenge to the state's ban on selling, transferring, or possessing assault weapons and large capacity feeding devices, and appealed the denial of a preliminary injunction. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that under its earlier decision in Ocean State Tactical the plaintiffs had not shown the AR-15 restriction lacks a historical analogue and therefore could not show the Ban is unconstitutional in all its applications. The court held that circuit precedent likewise foreclosed the magazine challenge and declined to consider a narrower handgun-specific theory raised for the first time at oral argument.

Summarized from the court's opinion.

What this case is about

facial Second Amendment challenge to the Massachusetts assault weapons ban

GunMapUSA summary of the issue, not a quotation from the court.

Key Dates

• 2025-04-17 — Decided
• 2024-10-07 — Argued

Sources

• CourtListener — retrieved 2026-08-08