WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear challenges to state and local bans on assault-style semiautomatic rifles, setting up a closely watched Second Amendment case that could reshape the legality of firearm restrictions adopted in more than a dozen states and local jurisdictions.
The justices granted review of appeals involving bans in Cook County, Illinois, and Connecticut after lower federal courts upheld both measures, rejecting arguments by gun rights advocates that the laws violate the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment guarantee of the right to keep and bear arms. Oral arguments are expected during the court's next term, which begins in October.
The cases center on restrictions covering AR-15-style rifles and similar semiautomatic firearms. Supporters of the laws argue the weapons' firepower and repeated use in mass shootings justify their regulation as public safety measures. Connecticut enacted its assault weapons law following the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and later expanded it, while Cook County has maintained its ordinance since 1993.
Gun rights organizations challenging the laws contend that the firearms are commonly owned by law-abiding Americans for lawful purposes and therefore receive constitutional protection. They argue the bans conflict with Supreme Court precedents recognizing an individual's right to possess firearms and the court's more recent decisions broadening Second Amendment protections.
The litigation is expected to test how the court's 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen applies to prohibitions on specific categories of firearms. In that ruling, the court held that modern gun regulations generally must be consistent with the nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation. Since then, lower courts have reached differing conclusions when applying that standard to assault weapons bans.
The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, has issued several decisions in recent years expanding Second Amendment protections while upholding some firearm restrictions in other circumstances. Last week, the justices struck down a Hawaii law restricting handgun carry on private property open to the public and unanimously narrowed a federal prohibition on firearm possession by unlawful drug users.
A ruling in the newly accepted cases could affect similar assault weapons restrictions in numerous states and major cities. The court has not indicated when it will issue a decision, though rulings in cases argued during the upcoming term are typically released by the end of the term in 2027.
