{"id":2640842,"date":"2026-08-05T08:28:59","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T12:28:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignlegal-specialists-preview-upcoming-scotus-cases-on-assault-weapons-bans\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T08:37:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T12:37:07","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignlegal-specialists-preview-upcoming-scotus-cases-on-assault-weapons-bans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignlegal-specialists-preview-upcoming-scotus-cases-on-assault-weapons-bans\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal Experts Preview SCOTUS &#8216;Assault Weapons&#8217; Ban Cases"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignlegal-specialists-preview-upcoming-scotus-cases-on-assault-weapons-bans%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2640842&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>the U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to address meaningful Second amendment issues in its upcoming term, particularly focusing on cases consolidated as Viramontes v. Cook County and Grant v. Higgins, which concern the legality of bans on AR-15 rifles and similar semi-automatic firearms. Thes cases are expected to have major implications for Americans&#8217; constitutional rights. During a Federalist Society forum, legal experts discussed how lower courts have failed to properly apply the Court\u2019s 2022 Bruen decision, which established a two-step framework for evaluating firearm restrictions-assessing whether the conduct is covered by the Second Amendment and whether restrictions are consistent with historical traditions. the cases highlight disagreements over whether AR-15s and similar weapons are protected under the Second Amendment, with some courts limiting their scope by analogizing to automatic weapons, while others consider broader rights to such firearms. There is also anticipation that the Court might consider restrictions related to magazine sizes,especially as many AR-15s come with 30-round magazines,which is a point of contention given their widespread use. Experts suggest that the Court is likely to rule that bans on such weapons are unconstitutional but also warn that some states may attempt to circumvent federal rulings through various legal strategies, similar to historical resistance to desegregation rulings.additionally, the discussion touched on future legal battles involving firearm restrictions for certain age groups, felons, suppressors, and commerce clause issues. No date has yet been set for oral arguments in these cases.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The U.S. Supreme Court is gearing up to weigh another big Second Amendment issue in its upcoming term \u2014 a matter legal specialists say will greatly affect Americans\u2019 constitutional rights.<\/p>\n<p>During a Tuesday <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=8LjjCz046VI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Federalist Society forum<\/a>, Notre Dame Law School Professor Haley Proctor and American Suppressor Association General Counsel Michael Williams offered viewers a sneak preview into what\u2019s at stake in <em>Viramontes v. Cook County<\/em> and <em>Grant v. Higgins<\/em>. The pair of consolidated cases \u2014 which deal with the legality of laws banning AR-15s and similar semiautomatic firearms \u2014 will be <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/07\/01\/scotus-will-decide-constitutionality-of-so-called-assault-weapons-bans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">heard<\/a> by the high court in its October 2026 term.<\/p>\n<p>The two panelists began by laying the foundation of the Supreme Court\u2019s existing Second Amendment jurisprudence, which included a discussion of its 2022 <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oyez.org\/cases\/2021\/20-843\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NYSRPA v. Bruen<\/a><\/em>  decision. In <em>Bruen<\/em>, the majority (6-3) recognized that Americans have a constitutional right to carry firearms outside the home for purposes of self-defense.<\/p>\n<p>The <em>Bruen<\/em> ruling established a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/constitution-conan\/amendment-2\/the-bruen-decision-and-concealed-carry-licenses\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">two-step test<\/a> lower courts are to use when assessing restrictions on firearm possession. The majority said courts must first assess whether the regulated conduct is covered by the Second Amendment\u2019s plain text, and if so, determine if that regulation is consistent with the nation\u2019s \u201chistorical tradition of firearm regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Turning to <em>Viramontes<\/em> and <em>Grant<\/em>, Williams observed how the 2nd and 7th Courts of Appeals effectively failed to properly adopt <em>Bruen<\/em>\u2018s two-step framework when considering the challenges to the respective laws. <\/p>\n<p>In <em>Viramontes<\/em>, Williams noted that the 7th Circuit \u201cessentially stops the argument at step one\u201d by analogizing AR-15s to \u201cautomatic weapons\u201d like M-16s, which it found are \u201cpresumptively not covered by the Second Amendment\u201d under existing SCOTUS precedent. Meanwhile, in <em>Grant<\/em>, he said that the 2nd Circuit focused more on the second step by accepting Connecticut\u2019s \u201chistorical analogues\u201d regarding bans on \u201ccertain types of knives\u201d and \u201cmachine guns,\u201d and started \u201cto slip closer and closer\u201d to a framework rejected by the Supreme Court in <em>Bruen<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The attorneys also considered the possibility that the Supreme Court may address the lawfulness of restrictions on <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/06\/02\/scotus-rejects-second-amendment-challenges-to-maryland-ar-15-ban-rhode-island-magazine-cap\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">gun-magazine size<\/a> in its decision. The sole question <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scotusblog.com\/cases\/viramontes-v-cook-county\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">agreed<\/a> to by the justices is whether the Second and 14th Amendments \u201cguarantee the right to possess AR-15 platform and similar semiautomatic rifles.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Williams opined that \u201cit\u2019s entirely possible you could see these connected in this decision\u201d because \u201cit\u2019s really kind of hard to separate the magazine out from the firearm to the extent that an AR-15 comes with a standard magazine; it\u2019s generally a 30-round magazine.\u201d He furthermore noted these guns\u2019 wide use among the American public. <\/p>\n<p>Proctor expressed uncertainty on whether the high court will handle the magazine issue in <em>Viramontes<\/em> and <em>Grant<\/em>, \u201cespecially now that there is a circuit [court] split\u201d on the question. She noted there\u2019s always a chance, however.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne possibility is that they decide <em>Viramontes<\/em> and send it back to the lower courts to try again with the standard capacity magazine bans,\u201d Proctor said. \u201cWhat \u2026 separates these out is the question of the definition of arms. \u2026[[<em><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/06\/25\/scotus-rules-hawaiis-vampire-rule-restricting-concealed-carry-is-unconstitutional\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wolford v. Lopez<\/a><\/em>]shows pretty well that the[[<em>Bruen<\/em>]step-one questions are fairly well-settled. But that is still one area in the magazine cases where lower courts are trying to crack open the step-one analysis. And we see that in the back-and-forth in the 9th Circuit\u2019s decision on large-capacity magazines in the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/01\/27\/scotus-holds-the-key-to-stopping-virginia-democrats-gun-control-gambit-will-they-use-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Duncan<\/a><\/em>  case.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, hopefully we\u2019ll get some sort of clarification in <em>Viramontes<\/em> even if the court doesn\u2019t take up the magazine issue on how the arms analysis is meant to proceed,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n<p>In <em>Wolford<\/em>, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Hawaii\u2019s \u201cvampire rule\u201d restricting concealed-carry holders\u2019 ability to carry on private property open to the public to be unconstitutional. The majority held that the state\u2019s gun control \u201cregime\u201d \u2014 which was adopted to seemingly sidestep <em>Bruen<\/em> \u2014 \u201chobble[d] what the Second Amendment protects: the right of Americans to carry arms for self-defense as they go about their daily lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While signaling the Supreme Court would likely deem the AR-15 restrictions in <em>Viramontes<\/em> and <em>Grant<\/em> to be unlawful, Proctor and Williams indicated they wouldn\u2019t be surprised if states with these laws effectively try to circumvent a positive ruling. Williams compared such behavior to the \u201cmass resistance\u201d among Southern states to the high court\u2019s <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oyez.org\/cases\/1940-1955\/347us483\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Brown v. Board of Education<\/a><\/em>  (1954) decision nuking state-enforced segregation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a Supreme Court case that comes out; a certain number of states do not like that outcome; and they\u2019re doing everything in their power to get out from under it, with a little bit of help from some lower courts who haven\u2019t quite wrapped their minds around this test and this issue yet. \u2026 But it would be frankly shocking to me if there were not attempts by these states after \u2026 a likely, hopeful victory here for AR-15s to get around by just making it difficult,\u201d Williams said. <\/p>\n<p>Towards the end of the panel, the two participants also flagged several <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-actor-ilan-srulovicz-battles-against-intolerant-hollywood\/\" title=\"How Actor Ilan Srulovicz Battles Against Intolerant Hollywood\">gun-related issues<\/a> that are likely to come down the Supreme Court\u2019s pipeline in the coming years. Proctor highlighted legal battles over bans on firearm possession for 18 to 20-year-olds and felons, while Williams pointed to existing restrictions on suppressors and remaining <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/wex\/commerce_clause\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">commerce clause<\/a> questions involving gun regulation.<\/p>\n<p>A date for oral arguments in <em>Viramontes<\/em> and <em>Grant<\/em> has not been announced.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics and RealClearHealth. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supreme Court to Decide Major Second Amendment Cases<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2640843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AR-15.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[38857,33907,4431,6994,32275],"class_list":["post-2640842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-assault-weapons","tag-gun-laws","tag-legal","tag-scotus","tag-supreme-court"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AR-15.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2640842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2640842"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2640842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2640850,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2640842\/revisions\/2640850"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2640843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2640842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2640842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2640842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}