TWO MONTHS OUT: Assault Weapon Ban Challenges Head to SCOTUS on December 2, Here’s What You Need to Know

NEW YORK – 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.

Assault weapons are not just used in mass shootings: Police recoveries of assault weapons in major U.S. cities jumped by 27% from 2020 to 2024, signaling a dangerous rise of warzone firepower in local communities.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Research shows that counties in states with assault weapons bans experience a 41 percent lower incidence of mass shooting fatalities. What’s more, additional research suggests that keeping the federal assault weapons ban in place from 2005 through 2022 could have prevented an estimated 38 public mass shootings. Striking down these laws would open the floodgates to military-grade firepower in communities nationwide.

STRONG LEGAL PRECEDENT AND SHRINKING GOP SUPPORT

When the Supreme Court granted certiorari, there was no lower court split on this issue, prompting public concern over the Justices’ intentions. However, only four votes are needed to grant certiorari, and four Justices had already said that the Court should decide an assault weapons case on this timeline. Specifically, in June 2025 in Snope v. Brown, Justices Alito, Thomas, and Gorsuch had voted to grant certiorari and Justice Kavanaugh wrote that the Supreme Court “should and presumably will” address the issue within a year or two. Consequently, when new petitions came around this year, three Justices had already said “yes” and a fourth was set on a self-imposed timeline. Review was likely, the legal framework remains firmly on the side of public safety, and the constitutional strength of these laws remains clear.

Now that the case has been granted, even Congressional Republicans do not want to get behind the gun lobby on this issue. The number of Republicans willing to sign an amicus brief has cratered compared to past major Second Amendment cases:

• Senate Retreat: In Bruen, 25 Republican U.S. senators signed an amicus brief supporting the Second Amendment challenge. In Viramontes, that support plummeted to just five senators. Dozens of Republican senators chose not to put their names on a brief arguing that no government – federal, state, or local – can restrict weapons of war.

• House Drop-Off: A similar retreat happened in the House, where support dropped from 83% of House Republicans for Bruen down to under 30% for Viramontes. Crucially, key members of House leadership who signed on for Bruen, including Speaker Johnson and Majority Leader Scalise, declined to join the petitioners’ brief this time around.

THE ROAD TO TODAY

Assault rifles like AR-15s and AK-47s were originally designed to give soldiers maximum firepower to overwhelm enemies on the battlefield. The gun industry then began selling semi-automatic versions to civilians, allowing shooters to fire dozens of shots in seconds with greater control, maneuverability, and speed than traditional firearms. These weapons began appearing at crime scenes and in mass shootings across the country. In response, several states and localities adopted laws prohibiting these weapons. Congress also enacted a 10-year federal assault weapons ban in 1994. After Congress failed to extend the ban following its expiration in 2004, additional states and local governments took the matter into their own hands, enacting protections to keep these battlefield weapons out of their communities.

To date, legislators in 16 states and Washington, D.C., have regulated assault weapons, with 11 of those states and D.C. banning them. The gun lobby has repeatedly sued state and local governments to force assault weapons back onto our streets, even though public opinion and the vast majority of court decisions are against them. Six federal appeals courts across the country have upheld bans on assault weapons and/or large-capacity magazines against gun lobby attacks, and only one has ruled to the contrary (and then put that ruling on hold pending the Supreme Court’s forthcoming decision). 

Our nation has a historical tradition of regulating to prohibit unusually dangerous weapons and to prevent mass violence, and the overwhelming legal consensus across the country confirms that these laws are constitutional. These laws enjoy broad support – ranging from law enforcement, trauma surgeons and the healthcare community, faith leaders, everyday Americans, and countless more. People in states that have passed bans deserve to keep them, and people in states that haven’t done so yet deserve the right to fight for them.

WHAT IS AN ASSAULT WEAPON?

Assault weapons are designed to fire rapidly and accommodate detachable large-capacity magazines, allowing a shooter to fire dozens of rounds of ammunition without reloading. These firearms combine high muzzle velocity and quick reloading with military-style features designed for combat – such as pistol grips, folding or collapsible stocks, barrel shrouds, and flash suppressors – that enhance concealability and control in rapid fire, enabling high-speed, mass-casualty attacks. Put simply, every feature increases the deadliness of these weapons.

The most common assault weapon rounds can penetrate interior walls and car doors, endangering family members and bystanders, as well as the bulletproof vests commonly worn by police. Furthermore, assault weapons are easy to modify with bump stocks, forced-reset triggers, and other accessories allowing them to fire like machine guns. Of note, many state hunting regulations prohibit using assault weapons and large-capacity magazines to hunt for several game species, as they are considered overkill for hunting ethically.

The bullet wounds inflicted by assault weapons cause massive internal tissue damage and catastrophic blood loss, rendering standard emergency trauma care far less effective compared to wounds from handguns. A child’s small body faces an outsized risk when it comes to assault weapons: Not a single child struck by a bullet from an assault weapon at Sandy Hook survived.

The bottom line is this: Everyone in America deserves to live, learn, work, and worship free from the threat of military-grade firepower shattering lives. Drawing a firm line against assault weapons not only has widespread public support – it’s also entirely constitutional. Everyone deserves the opportunity to determine what is right for their communities when it comes to keeping battlefield weapons off our streets.

To speak with survivors, Second Amendment experts with Everytown Law, or policy and research experts with Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, please contact [email protected].