WASHINGTON -- WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a challenge to a state ban on assault weapons, semiautomatic rifles that are popular among gun owners and have also been used in multiple mass shootings.

The justices turned down a case against a Maryland law passed after the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut that killed 20 children and six adults. The shooter was armed with an AR-15 , one of the firearms commonly referred to as an assault weapon.

Three conservative justices, however, publicly noted that they would have taken the case, and a fourth said he is skeptical that such bans are constitutional, indicating the court could soon take another look at the issue.

Several states have similar measures, and Congressional Democ

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