CT sued by gun rights group over semi-automatic firearms ban

Citing a U.S. Supreme Court decision earlier this year, gun rights groups and firearms owners have launched another attempt to overturn Connecticut's ban on certain semiautomatic rifles that was enacted in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

A new lawsuit was filed Thursday in federal court by three gun owners, the Connecticut Citizens Defense League and the Second Amendment Foundation. They are seeking to overturn the state prohibition on what they call "modern sporting arms" such as AR-15-style rifles like the one used to kill 20 first-graders and six educators at the Newtown school in 2012.

"We all deserve to live in safe communities, but denying ownership of the most commonly owned firearms in the country is not the way to achieve it," Holly Sullivan, president of the Connecticut Citizens Defense League, said in a statement.