Twenty-one states are asking a federal appeals court to overturn provisions of Maryland's gun-control law that ban 45 assault weapons and limit gun magazines to 10 rounds. West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey led the coalition in filing a friend-of-the-court brief in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia.
The brief says the law violates the Second Amendment right to keep firearms in homes for self-protection.
The other states are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
A U.S. District Court judge in Baltimore upheld the provisions in August.
The state of Maryland has until Dec. 31 to respond to the filing.
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A headline on previous versions of this story incorrectly stated the appellate court had called the restrictions too broad. The states contend the restrictions are too broad.
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