Supreme Court Opens New Term With Blockbuster Second Amendment Case — AR-15 Bans on Trial December 2
The Supreme Court opened its new term today with Viramontes v. Cook County on the docket — a challenge to AR-15 bans in Illinois and Connecticut. The Trump administration says the bans are unconstitutional. Argument is December 2.
The Supreme Court opened its new term today with a major Second Amendment case already on the docket — and the future of AR-15 bans across America is what's at stake.
Viramontes v. Cook County challenges Cook County, Illinois's ban on AR-15-style and similar semiautomatic rifles. The Court took the case in June and paired it with Grant v. Higgins, a challenge to Connecticut's similar ban. The question before the justices: whether the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect the right to own those rifles. Oral argument is set for December 2.
The bans remain in force for now. Cook County and Connecticut have until October 21 to file their defense. But the side that matters most has already weighed in: the Trump administration has argued these rifles are arms in common use and the bans are unconstitutional.
That "common use" argument is the heart of it. The Supreme Court's own precedents — Heller and Bruen — protect arms that are in common use by law-abiding citizens. There are tens of millions of AR-15-style rifles in American homes. They are, by any honest measure, among the most commonly owned rifles in the country — used for sport shooting, home defense, and hunting. The administration's position is straightforward: you can't ban what the Constitution's own test protects.
The other side will make its case by October 21. Gun-control advocates and the defending governments argue these bans are about public safety — that semiautomatic rifles with high-capacity magazines are the weapons of choice in mass shootings, and that states have the power to draw a line. They'll argue the Second Amendment was never understood to cover military-style firepower in civilian hands.
But gun-rights supporters see this as the case they've been waiting for. Lower courts have split on these bans for years, upholding some and striking others, and the Supreme Court has repeatedly declined to settle it — until now. With argument set for December 2 and a decision expected by next summer, this term could produce the most significant Second Amendment ruling since Bruen.
The administration picked its side early. Now nine justices decide whether millions of law-abiding gun owners keep their rifles — or whether the bans stand.