[1/2] The entrance to the Sandy Hook Permanent Memorial on the 10th anniversary of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, U.S., December 14, 2022. REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado/File PhotoAug 3 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Thursday rejected a gun rights group's challenge to an assault weapons ban the state of Connecticut adopted after a gunman in 2012 killed 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. The National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) filed a lawsuit in September, arguing the 2013 ban violated the right to bear arms under the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment, citing a major U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that expanded gun rights. But U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven in a 74-page ruling rejected those claims, saying the group failed to establish that assault weapons and large capacity magazines are commonly bought and used for self-defense. Arterton, an appointee of former Democratic President Bill Clinton, cited "persuasive" evidence by the state that assault weapons are instead more often sought out for their militaristic characteristics and are often used in crimes and mass shootings.

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Persons: David, Dee, Delgado, NAGR, Janet Bond Arterton, Bill Clinton, William Tong, Hannah Hill, Nate Raymond, David Gregorio, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Sandy, Sandy Hook Elementary, REUTERS, National Association for Gun Rights, U.S, Supreme, New York, Democratic, National Foundation for Gun Rights, Thomson Locations: Newtown , Connecticut, U.S, Connecticut, Sandy, Newtown, New Haven, Bruen, Boston