The Supreme Court stepped into the nation's most contentious gun fight on Tuesday, agreeing to rule on whether states can prohibit semiautomatic rifles like the AR-15. The decision sets up a major constitutional showdown in the court's next term, opening the door for the conservative majority to strike down assault weapon restrictions nationwide.
The court will hear two combined challenges to weapons bans in Connecticut and Cook County, Illinois. Both laws target semiautomatic rifles including the AR-15, which gun violence prevention advocates call assault weapons. The cases will be argued and decided beginning in October when the new term starts.
Connecticut's ban came directly from the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, when a gunman killed 20 children and six adults in Newtown. The same type of weapon was used in the 2022 Uvalde, Texas school shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead. The Illinois measure covers the Chicago metropolitan area, where residents Cutberto Viramontes and Christopher Khaya sued for the right to own the rifles they desired. They are backed by the Firearms Policy Coalition and the Second Amendment Foundation.
Lower courts in both states upheld the bans, but those decisions now face review by a Supreme Court with a 6-3 conservative lean that has consistently sided with gun rights in recent years. Last year, when the court declined a similar challenge, four conservative justices signaled they viewed AR-15 bans as unconstitutional. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote separately that the court should address the issue soon, a clear signal the majority would eventually act.
The groundwork was laid in 2022 when the court expanded Second Amendment protections beyond the home for the first time in its history. That 6-3 decision fundamentally reshaped gun law across the country and cleared the path for this challenge to state-level weapons restrictions.
Connecticut also faces a separate challenge from the Connecticut Citizens Defense League and three individuals who argue the state's ban overreaches. Both cases will move forward together on the court's docket.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "The court's willingness to take these cases signals the conservative majority is ready to impose a national gun standard that could sweep aside decades of state and local restrictions."
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