Lawyers from Cooper & Kirk—representing gun-rights groups and a Baltimore resident—argued that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen meant that Maryland could not enforce a law banning assault weapons. 

Responding to Circuit Judge Stephanie Thacker’s concern over the breakdown of firearm restrictions, the attorneys for challengers to Maryland’s law said the Bruen decision was controlling when it came to curbs on military weapons.