Gun rights advocates said Thursday that they had filed a federal lawsuit to block Maryland’s new gun control laws from going into effect next week, arguing that restrictions on assault weapons and large magazines infringe on their constitutional rights.

The gun rights advocates, who include individual citizens, organizations and gun shops, say the Second Amendment and case law make it clear that they are legally allowed to own military-style assault rifles and magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.

In their lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Maryland, which the office of Gov. Martin O’Malley confirmed was filed Thursday, they say the state’s new gun laws would not reduce crime but would make innocent people less able to defend themselves.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs plan to ask a judge Friday for an injunction to stop the law from taking effect on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association said.

A spokeswoman for O’Malley said she expects the law to withstand the challenge.

“The vast majority of Marylanders support these common-sense efforts to reduce gun violence,” spokeswoman Samantha Kappalman said. “The new law will take effect on Tuesday, and it will make families safer.”

A spokesman for the Associated Gun Clubs of Baltimore Inc., one of the plaintiffs, said the new laws would keep honest citizens from being able to “choose effective firearms for defense in the home.”

The spokesman for the Associated Gun Clubs of Baltimore is technically right.

It will be interesting to see if the court grants the injunction, which straight-up claims a 2nd Amendment defense, unlike prior cases filed in previous decades that would have obliquely tried to take on the laws. Heller and McDonald changed things, as we saw in Illinois recently.

Will Maryland’s courts come around as well, and grant the injunction?

Stay tuned.