The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear appeals challenging bans on semi-automatic rifles, often referred to as assault weapons, in Connecticut and the Chicago area. The justices will consider whether these restrictions violate the Second Amendment.
Scope of the Bans
Similar laws are in effect in about a dozen states, covering major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Washington DC. Congress allowed a national assault weapons ban to expire in 2004, but Democrats have supported renewing it in response to mass shootings. States have continued to pass their own measures, including recent laws in Virginia and Rhode Island.
Legal Context
This is the latest high-profile gun dispute to reach the court since its conservative majority expanded Second Amendment rights in a landmark 2022 ruling, which spawned challenges to firearm laws nationwide. Arguments are expected in the fall.
The Connecticut law was enacted after a mass shooter used an AR-15 to kill 26 children and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012. The state argues that these guns are a preferred weapon of mass shooters and can be banned because they are similar to military-grade weapons.
Arguments For and Against
“These laws are critical public safety measures, and they are consistent with the second amendment,” said Janet Carter, managing director of second amendment litigation at Everytown Law, a gun-control group.
Gun rights groups contend the bans are unconstitutional. “The second amendment protects arms in common use for lawful purposes, and it’s hard to argue that a type of rifle that potentially outnumbers Ford F-150 trucks in America doesn’t meet that standard,” said Adam Kraut, executive director of the Second Amendment Foundation.
Lower Court Rulings
The Cook County, Illinois, ban was first passed in 1993. Lower courts have upheld both the Connecticut and Cook County laws. Challengers wrote, “If the Second Amendment does not protect the most popular rifles in the country, it is hard to see how it protects any firearms at all,” aside from handguns kept in the home.
Attorneys for Cook County argue the measure passes constitutional muster. “The trauma that assault weapon massacres have inflicted on the public at large has been staggering,” they wrote.
Recent Supreme Court Actions
The Supreme Court backed Second Amendment rights in two cases this term, striking down gun carry restrictions in Hawaii and a broad federal ban on gun ownership by marijuana users. They have also upheld some restrictions, including a law barring individuals under domestic-violence restraining orders from possessing guns.
