Supreme Court Sets Date For Massive Showdown Over Semi-Auto Gun Bans

An Illinois county’s ban on modern semiautomatic firearms will be argued before the Supreme Court on Dec. 2.

The high court agreed to hear Viramontes v. Cook County in June, taking up a Second Amendment challenge to a ban on modern semiautomatic firearms passed by the Illinois locality. A schedule listing the date of the oral arguments for the case was posted to the Supreme Court’s website Friday.

“Whether the Second and Fourteenth Amendments guarantee the right to possess AR-15 platform and similar semiautomatic rifles” will be the question presented before the justices, according to a June 30 order.

The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) filed its opening brief in Cutberto Viramontes, et al. v. Cook County, Illinois, et al., a lawsuit seeking to invalidate a local ban on so-called “assault weapons” first passed by the Illinois locality in 2006, on Aug. 28.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued a ruling on July 17 declaring New Jersey’s ban on so-called “assault weapons” and so-called “large-capacity magazines” holding more than ten rounds violated the Second Amendment rights of residents.

The New York Times noted in a May 13 article that, not only was the AR-15 a popular rifle, but that modern semiautomatic firearms bearing a superficial resemblance to the AK-47 were previously “ubiquitous” before the AR-15’s ascendance among the general public. Under the Supreme Court’s rulings in Heller and Bruen, firearms in common use for lawful purposes fall under the Second Amendment’s protection.

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