Worman v. Healey: First Circuit Upholds AWB Under Pre-Bruen Framework

In Worman v. Healey, 922 F.3d 26 (1st Cir. 2019)^[1], plaintiffs including individual gun owners and the Gun Owners' Action League (GOAL) challenged the Massachusetts assault weapons ban and AG Healey's 2016 enforcement notice as violating the Second Amendment, Due Process, and Equal Protection.

District Court (April 2018)

Judge William G. Young granted summary judgment for the defendants, writing that "AR-15-type rifles are 'like' M16 rifles, and fall outside the scope of the Second Amendment."

First Circuit (April 26, 2019)

A unanimous panel (with retired Justice David Souter sitting by designation) affirmed on different reasoning. The First Circuit assumed without deciding that the banned weapons have some degree of Second Amendment protection, then applied intermediate scrutiny. The court held that the ban minimally burdens the Second Amendment right and survives intermediate scrutiny.

Supreme Court Declines Review

The Supreme Court denied certiorari on June 15, 2020 (Docket No. 19-404)^[2], leaving the First Circuit's ruling in place.

Post-Bruen Significance

Worman was decided under the two-step means-end scrutiny framework that the Supreme Court later rejected in NYSRPA v. Bruen (2022). This opened the door for renewed challenges to the Massachusetts assault weapons ban under the historical tradition test, leading to Capen v. Campbell.