Attorney General Tong Statement on Second Circuit Rejection of Preliminary Injunctions in Challenges to Connecticut's Assault Weapon and Large Capacity Magazine Bans

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08/22/2025

Attorney General Tong Statement on Second Circuit Rejection of Preliminary Injunctions in Challenges to Connecticut's Assault Weapon and Large Capacity Magazine Bans

(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong released the following statement regarding the decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirming denial of preliminary injunctions sought by the National Association for Gun Rights, the Connecticut Citizens Defense League, the Second Amendment Foundation, and individuals in two separate challenges to Connecticut’s post-Sandy Hook assault weapons ban. The NAGR suit further challenged Connecticut’s large capacity magazine ban. The decision today found neither set of plaintiffs was likely to succeed on the merits. Connecticut’s strong gun safety laws remain in effect.

“Connecticut’s assault weapon and large capacity magazine bans are lawful, lifesaving, and broadly supported. I’m under no illusion that today’s clear decision will stop the gun lobby’s relentless campaign to flood our communities with ever more deadly weapons. We will not back down, and we are going to fight with everything we’ve got to keep these weapons of war off our streets, out of our schools, and away from our families,” said Attorney General Tong.

In its decision, the Court recognizes that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms is “not unlimited.” It further recognizes that Connecticut’s gun laws impose reasonable restrictions on unusually dangerous weapons “uniquely designed to create mayhem.” Connecticut’s laws preserve numerous legal avenues for self-defense and other lawful purposes, and do not impair the core constitutional right to self-defense under the Second Amendment, the decision finds. The Court determined that Connecticut’s laws are entirely consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulations.

“The Second Amendment thus allows these legislators to do what they did here: implement targeted regulations designed to protect residents and their children from experiencing tragedies like the one at Sandy Hook Elementary School that Connecticut and the nation experienced on December 14, 2012,” the decision concludes.

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