Third Circuit To Rehear En Banc Challenge to New Jersey’s AWB and Magazine Ban Case

In a rare move, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has decided to rehear, en banc, a major challenge to New Jersey’s ban on semi-automatic rifles and standard capacity magazines.

In a sua sponte order issued on August 21 by Chief Judge Michael Chagares, the court directed the en banc hearing to take place on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, beginning at 9:30 a.m., in Philadelphia, PA.

Oral arguments in this case were presented to a three-judge panel of the same court less than two months ago on July 1, and the panel has not yet even issued its decision, which makes the court’s directive to hear it en banc even more unusual. (An en banc hearing is a legal proceeding where a case is heard by a larger group of judges than the usual panel in an appellate court, and is usually quite rare.)

The case at hand, now known as ANJRPC v. Platkin, is actually a consolidation of three cases:

• ANJRPC v. Platkin (3:18-cv-10507) – Challenged NJ’s ban on magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, ANJRPC case
• Ellman v. Platkin (3:22-cv-04397) – Challenged NJ’s ban on commonly-owned semiautomatic rifles, ANJRPC case
• Cheeseman v. Platkin (1:22-cv-04360) – Challenged NJ’s ban on commonly-owned semiautomatic rifles, FPC case

In July of 2024, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey ruled that New Jersey’s ban on the Colt AR-15 (by name) is unconstitutional, but also found that the ban on “large capacity magazines” was somehow constitutional.

Mark Smith, host of the Four Boxes Diner YouTube Channel, and contributor at News2A, speculated in a recent video that a draft opinion by the panel (which would not have found AR-15s to be protected arms) was likely circulated to the full court, and resulted in the court taking unprecedented action to curtail that decision in order to find a decision in favor of the Second Amendment.