High court decides not to intensify gun debate

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court steered clear of the intensifying gun debate after the mass shootings in Nevada and Texas, turning away two appeals from firearms advocates, including one that sought a constitutional right to own a semi-automaticassault rifle.

The justices, without comment Monday, left intact a ruling that upheld Maryland’s ban on assault weapons. In a separate case, the high court refused to require Florida to let handguns be carried openlyin public.

The Supreme Court has repeatedly rebuffed gun advocates since it ruled in 2010 that people across the country have the right to keep a firearm in the home for self-defense. That case represents the last time the high court heardarguments on the reach ofthe Second Amendment.

Opponents say easy access to guns is to blame for continued mass shootings in the U.S., including the Oct. 1 massacre of 58 people at a concert in Las Vegas and the slaughter a month later of 26 people ina Texas church.

At odds on patents

The justices signaled Monday they are divided over a review system that has invalidated hundreds of patents, hearing arguments in a case being closely watched by the technology and drug industries.

The high court is weighing contentions that the system, which has benefited tech companies including Apple and Google, violates the Constitution by letting an administrative board invalidate issued patents.

Data searches

On Wednesday, the court will consider whether prosecutors violated the Fourth Amendment, which bars unreasonable searches, by collecting vast amounts of data from cell phone companies showing the movements of a man they say organized a series of robberies of Radio Shack stores in the Midwest. Experts in privacy law said the case, Carpenter v. United States, No. 16-402, was a potential blockbuster.