NY Political Speak

In this Jan. 15, 2013 file photo, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks after signing New York's Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act, or SAFE Act, into law during a ceremony in the Red Room at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y.

(The Associated Press)

PIERRE, S.D. -- Attorney General Marty Jackley says South Dakota has joined 21 other states in a brief filed in an appellate court challenging the constitutionality of a New York ban on semi-automatic weapons.

Jackley says that while the ban only applies to New York, a federal court's upholding of the ban sets a "concerning" precedent.

A federal judge in December upheld most of the New York Safe Act, the state's new gun control law, rejecting arguments that its bans on large-capacity magazines and the sale of popular semi-automatic rifles violate Second Amendment rights.

The judge says those provisions are constitutional because they're related to achieving an "important governmental interest" in public safety. The law was adopted following the shooting at a Connecticut elementary school.

The decision is being challenged in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.