A closely divided Supreme Court refused Monday to hear a 2nd Amendment challenge to the bans on semi-automatic rifles in Maryland, California and eight other blue states. Gun rights advocates say these AR-15s are owned by millions of Americans,

The gun rights group Second Amendment Foundation said it has seven other cases challenging the bans and plans to continue to “aggressively litigate” them. “Millions of Americans continue to be disenfranchised from exercising their complete Second Amendment rights by virtue of these categorical bans,” Executive Director Adam Kraut said.

After considering them at 15 consecutive conferences, the Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up two challenges to gun-control laws in Maryland and Rhode Island. In each case, three justices indicated