Cook County, Connecticut File Briefs as AR-15 Case Nears Dec. 2 Argument

Cook County and Connecticut faced an October 21 deadline to file merits briefs defending their AR-15 and "assault weapons" bans before the Supreme Court, as the consolidated cases Viramontes v. Cook County and Grant v. Higgins head toward oral argument on December 2, according to GarandThumb.

Key points

• The question presented is whether the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect the right to own AR-15 platform and similar semiautomatic rifles, GarandThumb reports.
• The challengers' brief, filed August 28, cites roughly 22 million AR-15 owners nationwide and argues the rifles are common, lawfully used firearms covered by the Second Amendment.
• The federal government weighed in on September 4 with an amicus brief backing the challengers, calling the AR-15 the nation's most popular rifle and citing estimates of at least 28 million AR-style rifles in circulation.
• The "dangerous and unusual" standard is central, GarandThumb notes, since lower courts leaned on dangerousness claims while sidestepping the common-use test the challengers say should control.
• The stakes are national, as a broad ruling could jeopardize state and local assault weapon bans, while a narrower one could send cases back to lower courts for more litigation.

Quick take

This is the case to watch if you want to know whether "assault weapon" bans survive contact with the Supreme Court. The briefing deadline came and went, the federal government is on record backing gun owners, and oral argument is now locked in for December 2. Worth bookmarking.

Read the full story: garandthumb.com