Supreme Court Takes Up Assault-Weapon Ban Cases

On June 30 2026 the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in two lawsuits that challenge state and local bans on semiautomatic rifles such as the AR-15. The cases—*Viramontes v. Cook County* (Illinois) and *Grant v. Higgins* (Connecticut)—ask whether the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect “semiautomatic rifles in common use for lawful purposes, including the most popular rifle in the country, the AR-15.” The Court will consider the questions in the term that begins in October 2026.

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Connecticut’s ban was enacted after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, in which a shooter used an AR-15-style rifle to fire 154 rounds in under five minutes, killing 20 children and six adults. Since then, fourteen states and the District of Columbia have passed similar restrictions on “assault weapons.” The Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in *New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen* recognized a constitutional right to carry handguns in public, prompting renewed litigation over the scope of the Second Amendment.

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• Justice Samuel Alito – authored the majority opinion in *Hawaii v. Hawaii* and warned that Hawaii’s law “departs sharply from the standard common-law rule.”

Reason

• Justice Brett Kavanaugh – previously forecast that the AR-15 question would appear “in the next term or two.”

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• Justice Clarence Thomas – cautioned that the Seventh Circuit’s upholding of Illinois’s ban could prompt Supreme Court review.

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• Judge Amy St. Eve – wrote the Seventh Circuit majority upholding Illinois’s ban, relying on *Bevis v. Davis*.

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• Chief Judge Michael Brennan – dissented, calling the ban “the best-selling rifle in America.”

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• Gun-rights organizations – filed briefs urging the Court to strike down the bans, arguing that the weapons are owned by “tens of millions of law-abiding AR-15 owners.”

New York Times

• 2012 – Sandy Hook shooting prompts Connecticut’s ban.

New York Times

• October 2025 – Supreme Court’s term ends; the Court announces it will hear two assault-weapon cases.

New York Times

• June 30 2026 – Court grants certiorari in *Viramontes* and *Grant*.

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• October 2026 – Oral arguments scheduled for the upcoming term.

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• More than 30 million AR-15-style rifles are owned in the United States.

New York Times

• Fourteen states plus the District of Columbia have enacted bans similar to Connecticut’s.

New York Times

If the Court holds that the AR-15 is protected, bans on the rifle, high-capacity magazines, and related features could be vulnerable nationwide. The decision could also affect pending challenges to magazine limits and handgun specifications in states such as California and New York, reshaping the legal landscape of gun regulation.

Reason

Gun-rights groups argued that the “ubiquity” of AR-15s “bolsters the case for Second Amendment protections,” citing the 2008 *District of Columbia v. Heller* standard that only “dangerous and unusual” weapons may be prohibited. The Seventh Circuit majority emphasized that “the Supreme Court rejected the idea that modern gun laws need exact historical twins,” reinforcing the view that contemporary firearms can be judged under the Court’s historical-tradition test.

New York Times

Chief Judge Brennan’s dissent warned that the appellate court “repeated its *Bevis* error” by treating a commonly owned rifle as “too dangerous” because of political opposition. Legal scholars note that the claim of a “unanimous circuit consensus” on AR-15 bans is misleading, as the circuits cited (First, Second, Fourth, Seventh, Ninth, D.C.) are not traditionally strong on Second-Amendment protections.

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AmmoLand asserts a “unanimous circuit consensus” on upholding AR-15 bans, while the same analysis acknowledges that the cited circuits are “not exactly known as Second Amendment strongholds.” The article does not provide data on how many jurisdictions have actually upheld such bans, leaving the extent of any national consensus unclear.

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• “departs sharply from the standard common-law rule on access to private property held open to the public.” — Justice Samuel Alito

Reason

• “By contrast, under the new Hawaii law, no one carrying a firearm may enter without the property owner's express authorization.” — Justice Samuel Alito

Reason

• “Illinois has banned the best-selling rifle in America and its standard magazine,” — Chief Judge Michael Brennan

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• “the most popular rifle in the country.” — 2025 Supreme Court opinion (as cited by petitioners)

New York Times

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the AR-15 cases during the October 2026 term, after which it is expected to issue a decision that could reshape the constitutionality of assault-weapon bans nationwide.

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