The federal court judge ruled on Tuesday that New Jersey’s AR-15 ban is unconstitutional. This could force the state, which has prohibited certain semi-automatic firearms for decades, to lift this prohibition.

The ruling is limited to only one type of gun, the Colt AR-15. It also allows for “self-defense in the home”.

The latest in a series of Second Amendment-friendly decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court, it marks a significant reversal of New Jersey’s notoriously strict gun laws.

Gun rights advocates who had challenged New Jersey’s gun ban hailed the decision as a partial win. They argued in court documents that the law “blatantly” violated the fundamental rights of law-abiding residents to keep and use arms for self-defense or other lawful purposes.

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Matthew Platkin, the state attorney general, said on Tuesday that his office will appeal the decision. He argued it “weaponizes Second Amendment in order to undermine public security.”

“The AR-15 was designed to be used in warfare, which causes catastrophic mass injuries. It is the weapon of preference for the epidemic mass shootings that has ravaged many communities throughout the United States,” Platkin stated.

In a 69 page decision, U.S. District Court judge Peter Sheridan, a George W. Bush appointment, criticized the “Supreme Court’s pronouncements” that certain firearms policies choices were ‘off-the-table’, when radical individuals often possess and use those same firearms for evil reasons.

Sheridan, however, wrote that he was bound to the rulings of two higher courts, Bruen and Heller.

The judge stated that “this principle, combined with the recklessness of our government leaders in addressing the mass shooting tragedies afflicting the Nation, necessitates Court’s Decision.”

The ruling was a dual challenge to New Jersey’s Assault Firearms Law enacted in 90 and a law signed by Governor Murphy on 2018. Phil Murphy limited magazine size to 10 rounds.

Sheridan’s ruling that the AR-15 ban was unconstitutional, under the new Supreme Court decisions, did not apply to the large-capacity magazines ban in the state.

He wrote that the Supreme Court’s decision “forbade an absolute prohibition on a particular class of firearm ownership,” noting that AR-15s are commonly found in states with a gun-friendly culture.

The judge’s decision only applies to Colt models because “the variety of firearms regulated under the Assault Firearms Law, and the subtleties that each firearm presents”, and because in this case the evidence concerned the AR-15.

Court records indicate that gun rights groups including the New Jersey Association of Rifle and Pistol Clubs and national Firearms Policy Coalition filed notices appealing the judge’s ruling upholding magazine ban.

In a Tuesday statement, FPC President Brandon Combs stated that “bans on so-called assault weapons” are immoral as well as unconstitutional.

“FPC will continue its fight until all these bans in the United States are eliminated.”