Gun rights advocates have been urging the U.S. Supreme Court for years to address the dubious constitutionality of various state-level gun control laws that they believe violate the Second Amendment-protected right to keep and bear arms.

Those advocates were disappointed on Monday when the Supreme Court declined to take up two separate cases that challenged Delaware's ban on so-called "assault weapons" and standard capacity ammunition magazines as well as Maryland's burdensome handgun licensing requirements, Fox News reported.

All hope is not yet lost for this court term, however, as the justices may still decide to take up pending challenges against Maryland's "assault weapons" ban as well as Rhode Island's ban on standard-size ammunition magazines.

Justices decline to take up two gun rights cases

Following a conference on Friday, the Supreme Court on Monday issued a lengthy Orders List in which they denied requests for certiorari for dozens of cases, including the challenges against certain gun control laws in Delaware and Maryland.

The Delaware case, known as Gray v. Jennings, challenged the constitutionality of a 2022 state law that banned the possession of so-called "assault weapons" like semi-automatic AR-15 and AK-47 rifles, along with the "large" ammunition magazines that come standard with such firearms.

The Maryland case, known as Maryland Shall Issue v. Moore, similarly raised constitutional issues and asked the high court to consider "Whether Maryland’s handgun qualification license requirement violates the Second Amendment."

That second case is of particular note because it involves what appears to be a doubly imposed burden on prospective gun owners in that it requires them to undergo a background check, receive training, and wait for a month to obtain a license to even purchase a handgun, at which time they are again subjected to required background checks, training, and wait periods.

Interestingly enough, a three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals struck the Maryland licensing scheme down as too burdensome, citing the Supreme Court's new precedent-setting 2022 Bruen decision, only for the entire 4th Circuit to later override the panel's ruling and uphold the state law.

Two big 2A cases still remain under consideration

While those two denials are no doubt disconcerting for gun rights advocates, the Washington Examiner reported that they don't mark the end of the opportunity for a possible Second Amendment win in the Supreme Court's current term.

That is because at least two other major challenges against state-level gun control laws remain pending and will be considered for requested certiorari at later conferences by the justices.

That includes Snope v. Brown, which challenges Maryland's ban on so-called "assault weapons" and standard capacity magazines and asks "Whether the Constitution permits the state of Maryland to ban semiautomatic rifles that are in common use for lawful purposes, including the most popular rifle in America."

It also includes a case known as Ocean State Tactical v. Rhode Island, which challenges Rhode Island's recent ban on standard capacity magazines.

Weapons and magazines are in "common use" and shouldn't be banned

Reason magazine recently argued that both the Snope and Ocean State Tactical cases should be taken up by the Supreme Court because they both "present a critically important question going to the heart of the Second Amendment -- may the government prohibit mere possession of AR-15s and similar semiautomatic rifles and of standard magazines that come with most semiautomatic rifles and pistols?"

In making that argument, the outlet cited the game-changing pro-gun rights precedents set by the high court's prior Heller and Bruen decisions, highlighted how lower courts have blatantly ignored the crux of those rulings, and how the ubiquitous semi-automatic weapons and accompanying magazines shouldn't be banned because they are in "common use" by a substantial portion of the general population.