The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear Viramontes v. Cook County and Grant v. Higgins, consolidating two cases that involve reckless gun lobby challenges to laws restricting assault weapons in Connecticut and Cook County, Illinois. Assault weapons are military-style firearms engineered for rapid firing and maximum lethality, and they are frequently used in our nation’s deadliest mass shootings. Oral arguments are scheduled for December 2, 2026. Here’s what you need to know.
WHAT IS AT STAKE?
The Supreme Court’s choice is between arming more criminals with devastatingly lethal weapons or letting states save lives by restricting deadly weapons of war. Every single one of the ten highest-casualty mass shootings in America between 2016 and 2025 involved both an assault weapon and a large-capacity magazine. In mass shootings, four times as many people are shot when an assault weapon or large-capacity magazine is involved compared with incidents involving neither. In the 2019 Dayton mass shooting, police officers heroically stopped the shooter in just 32 seconds – yet in those 32 seconds, armed with an AR-15-style assault weapon, the shooter fired 41 rounds, killing nine people and wounding 17 others.
Assault weapons and large-capacity magazines pose a direct threat to law enforcement officers who respond to shootings. These battlefield weapons put first responders at extreme risk by forcing officers to face military-style firepower that renders their standard bulletproof vests useless. When assault weapons or large-capacity magazines are involved, more law enforcement officers are shot than when they are not.
— Everytown’s TWO MONTHS OUT: Assault Weapon Ban Challenges Head to SCOTUS on December 2, Here’s What You Need to Know
Of course, there is nothing in the Everytown article that addresses the legal issues in that case (i.e., is there a historical analogue that justifies a ban on weapons unquestionably “in common use”?).
Just more incompetent whining about “weapons of war” and misinformation about “assault rifles.”
They know the votes are there to invalidate the AWB’s, and it’s driving them nuts.