A federal appeals court ruled Friday that New Jersey’s bans on assault firearms and magazines that can hold more than 10 bullets are unconstitutional.

This is the first time a federal appeals court has struck down a state ban on such weapons, and it comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is set to consider whether bans on semi-automatic rifles violate the Second Amendment. Last week, another federal appeals court upheld Illinois’ ban on semi-automatic weapons.

Friday’s appeals court ruling in the New Jersey case goes further than a July 2024 ruling by a federal judge, who said the state’s ban on AR-15s was specifically unconstitutional but upheld the provision banning larger magazines. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit said Friday in its opinion that the state’s blanket ban on weapons that it considers “assault firearms” and restriction on “high-capacity ammunition magazines” were unconstitutional.

New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, a Democrat whose office defended the law, said in a statement that the decision is “as unfortunate as it is legally wrong.”

“Every other federal circuit court that has considered the issue has taken the opposite view,” Davenport said. “Assault weapons and high-capacity magazines play a dangerous role in the modern epidemic of mass shootings, and New Jersey acted reasonably and lawfully in restricting them. We are considering our options.”

John Commerford, executive director of the National Rifle Association’s Legislative Action Institute, called the ruling a “historic victory for the NRA, the Second Amendment and law-abiding Americans.”

“The Third Circuit has struck down these so-called unconstitutional assault weapons and magazine bans in New Jersey, affirming what we have always known: the right to keep and bear arms, including commonly owned rifles and standard-capacity magazines, is fundamental and cannot be infringed by politicians who prioritize control over constitutional liberties,” Commerford said in a statement.

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Kelety reported from Phoenix.