{"id":2691214,"date":"2026-10-25T08:25:01","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T12:25:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/illinois-county-connecticut-cite-weapons-you-never-heard-of-to-justify-their-gun-bans-to-scotus\/"},"modified":"2026-10-25T08:25:01","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T12:25:01","slug":"illinois-county-connecticut-cite-weapons-you-never-heard-of-to-justify-their-gun-bans-to-scotus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/illinois-county-connecticut-cite-weapons-you-never-heard-of-to-justify-their-gun-bans-to-scotus\/","title":{"rendered":"Illinois County, Connecticut Cite Weapons You Never Heard of to Justify Their Gun Bans to SCOTUS"},"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\">32<\/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%2Fillinois-county-connecticut-cite-weapons-you-never-heard-of-to-justify-their-gun-bans-to-scotus%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=2691214&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 class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Two jurisdictions defending bans on modern semiautomatic firearms cited centuries-old prohibitions on obscure weapons to justify the measures in briefs filed Wednesday with the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">The justices agreed on June 30 to hear Viramontes v. Cook County, a Second Amendment challenge to the Illinois locality\u2019s ban on modern semiautomatic firearms, consolidating the case with Grant v. Higgins, a challenge to a similar law passed in Connecticut after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. In briefs filed Wednesday, <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/DocketPDF\/25\/25-238\/430313\/20261021172016170_Grant%20v.%20Higgins%20-%20Connecticut%20Response%20Brief.pdf\">Connecticut<\/a> and <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/DocketPDF\/25\/25-238\/430314\/20261021172119817_25-238%20-%2025-566%20-%20Brief.pdf\">Cook County<\/a> cited prohibitions on launcegays and slungshots to support keeping the AR-15 and similar firearms illegal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cLauncegays were eventually banned following their use in a series of well-publicized murders and their \u2018responsib[ility] for fatalities\u2019 in numerous \u2018personal quarrels, brawls, and street fighting,\u2019\u201d Connecticut argued in its brief. \u201cIn a 1441 dispute involving officers of the archbishop of York, \u2018[s]everal men were killed and wounded with [launcegays] used by both sides.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cAt common law, English Parliament enacted outright bans on dangerous weapons including the launcegay,\u201d Cook County asserted. \u201cThe early colonies followed suit with prohibitions on indiscriminate killing that could be accomplished by trap guns or with armed assemblies. During the Reconstruction era, bans on Bowie knives and slungshots were enacted to protect the public from their exceptional lethality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Launcegays were light lances that were ubiquitous among military forces in medieval times, <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/books\/abs\/journal-of-medieval-military-history\/lancegay-and-associated-weapons\/BFC3D2C83F8F1C40A826EECDA2F7AEA4\">according<\/a> to Cambridge University. Slungshots were weights of metal (usually lead) attacked to flexible handles or even just a cord, and were used as impact weapons, <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/schwartzcohenlaw.com\/slungshot-definition-and-weapon-classification\/\">according<\/a> to the Schwarz Cohen Law Firm.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cWhile the arguments levied in support of the assault weapons bans we\u2019ve challenged in these cases lack legal support, they weren\u2019t unforeseen,\u201d Second Amendment Foundation Senior Director of Litigation William Sack told the Daily Caller News Foundation. \u201cWhat we saw from the opposition briefs was more of the same ill-conceived arguments that were adopted at least in part by the Second and Seventh Circuits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cSince SCOTUS has already made clear that arms in common use are protected by the Second Amendment, the defendants here are left to argue that either these rifles \u2013 owned by the millions \u2013 aren\u2019t commonly owned by law-abiding Americans, or that the Supreme Court\u2019s test itself is flawed,\u201d Sack continued. \u201cWe look forward to responding in our reply.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Connecticut and Cook County argued that launcegays and slungshots, along with crossbows and Bowie knives, were among weapons historically banned due to their lethality and for being \u201cdangerous.\u201d The jurisdictions also argued that the AR-15 represented a technological advance that warranted being accounted for.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cThe danger is acute because the AR15 platform has effectively collapsed the destructive power of an armed battalion into a single pair of hands, making this weapon the equivalent of an armed assembly,\u201d Cook County argued. \u201cSignificantly, Cook County has chosen to ban an unusually dangerous platform of weapons while leaving other arms available for lawful self-defense\u2014 including ordinary rifles, shotguns, and handguns.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cPetitioner Khaya, for example, owns a .22 caliber semiautomatic Rossi rifle and a Smith &#038; Wesson handgun,\u201d Cook County continued. \u201cThe arms that remain available to the public were not created to cause the same level of destruction to the human body as AR-15 platform weapons and were not designed for the same superior lethality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">The Supreme Court ruled in <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/supreme.justia.com\/cases\/federal\/us\/577\/411\/\">Caetano v. Massachusetts<\/a>, a 2016 case decided in an unsigned opinion that overturned the Massachusetts Supreme Court\u2019s ruling upholding the state\u2019s ban on stun guns, that the Second Amendment didn\u2019t just cover technology at the time of the founding, reiterating a finding in the court\u2019s 2008 Heller decision.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cThe court explained that stun guns are not protected because they \u2018were not in common use at the time of the Second Amendment\u2019s enactment,\u2019\u201d the unsigned opinion says. \u201cThis is inconsistent with <i><em class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__textItalic\">Heller<\/em><\/i>\u2019s clear statement that the Second Amendment \u2018extends . . . to . . . arms . . . that were not in existence at the time of the founding.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Several of the Founding Fathers also expressed awareness about the likelihood of technological advances.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cFurnish\u2019d as all Europe now is with Academies of Science, with nice Instruments and the Spirit of Experiment, the Progress of human Knowledge will be rapid, and Discoveries made of which we have at present no Conception,\u201d Benjamin Franklin, who invented bifocal lenses and the Franklin stove, wrote in a 1783 <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/founders.archives.gov\/documents\/Franklin\/01-40-02-0236\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">letter<\/a> to Sir Joseph Banks. \u201cI begin to be almost sorry I was born so soon, since I cannot have the Happiness of knowing what will be known 100 Years hence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Former President Thomas Jefferson also was aware of the potential for technological innovations. During Jefferson\u2019s presidential administration, the Lewis and Clark Expedition took along an <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/lewis-clark.org\/tools-and-techniques\/weapons\/lewiss-air-gun\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">air gun<\/a> that had a 22-shot magazine and operated as a repeater.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cIt is impossible for a man who takes a survey of what is already known, not to see what an immensity in every branch of science yet remains to be discovered, &#038; that too of articles to which our faculties seem adequate,\u201d Jefferson wrote to William G. Munford in 1799.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">The Supreme Court is expected to issue its decision on the case in summer 2027.<\/p>\n<div class=\"disclaimer\">\n<p>All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter\u2019s byline and their DCNF affiliation. 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The justices agreed on June 30 to hear Viramontes v. Cook County, a Second Amendment challenge to the Illinois locality\u2019s ban on modern semiautomatic firearms, consolidating the case with<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2691215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_4637.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2691214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IMG_4637.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2691214","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2691214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2691214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2691215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2691214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2691214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2691214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}