Supreme Court Agrees to Hear AR-15 Ban Challenge
The Supreme Court will decide whether states can ban the country's most popular rifle — a ruling that could reshape gun law nationwide.
The justices agreed Tuesday to hear challenges to assault-weapons bans in Connecticut and Cook County, Illinois. Arguments are expected in the fall, with a decision likely by next summer.
A Third Gun-Rights Case in One Term
The cert grant follows two other Second Amendment wins this term. Earlier this month, the court sided with a Texas man barred from owning a gun as a marijuana user.
A week later, it struck down a Hawaii law restricting concealed carry on private property.
Four conservative justices — enough to grant review — had signaled for months they were ready to take up assault-weapons bans specifically.
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The Cook County Law Covers 125 Rifle Types
Cook County's ordinance, first passed in 1993, bars possession, sale, or transfer of 125 specific rifle models, including the AR-15 and AK-47. Violators face up to six months in prison and a minimum $5,000 fine.
Cook County State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke said her office will "not back down" from defending the ban, calling the weapons "designed to inflict the maximum amount of carnage." Gun-rights attorneys counter that the AR-15 is owned by tens of millions of Americans and therefore falls squarely within Second Amendment protection.
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The History and Tradition Test
Both laws were upheld by lower courts applying the "history and tradition" test set out in the 2022 Bruen decision, which requires modern gun laws to align with the nation's historical firearms-regulation practices. Legal scholars say the justices themselves are unhappy with how lower courts have applied that test.
The Connecticut law traces directly to the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, where a gunman used an AR-15 to kill 26 children and educators. The state argues the rifles are functionally similar to military-grade weapons and can be regulated accordingly.
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What Comes Before the Ruling
Fourteen states and Washington, D.C. currently restrict semiautomatic rifles. A federal assault-weapons ban expired in 2004 after Congress declined to renew it, and repeated efforts to revive it nationally have stalled despite a string of mass shootings.
The court separately declined to hear a case on gun sales to 18-to-20-year-olds, leaving that question for lower courts to keep sorting out on their own.
Oral arguments begin this fall.
TL;DR
- Supreme Court will hear AR-15 ban challenges from Connecticut and Cook County, Illinois
- Case follows two other Second Amendment wins for gun-rights advocates this term
- Cook County's law covers 125 specific rifle models; violators face jail time and fines
- Connecticut's law was passed after the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting
- Arguments expected in the fall, with a ruling likely by next summer
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Politics & World News Editor
James Mitchell has covered US and UK politics for over a decade, with a focus on elections, foreign policy, and Capitol Hill. He breaks down complex political stories into clear, fast analysis.
