The justices have consolidated two cases—Viramontes v. Cook County and Grant v. Higgins—to evaluate the constitutionality of state and local bans on AR-15 platform and similar semiautomatic rifles.
Case Details
- The Issue: The Court will decide whether the Second and 14th Amendments guarantee an individual’s right to possess semiautomatic rifles, which are currently banned in more than 10 states and Washington, D.C..
- Argument Date: Oral arguments are scheduled for December 2, 2026.
- The Core Debate: Gun rights challengers argue these rifles are among the most popular and commonly owned firearms in the country for lawful purposes. Conversely, the jurisdictions defending the bans emphasize that these firearms are disproportionately used in high-casualty mass shootings.
This marks a major step since the landmark 2022 Bruen ruling, as the high court directly takes on a merits challenge to “assault weapons” bans.
While the Supreme Court has scheduled arguments for its consolidated semi-automatic rifle cases on December 2, 2026, the justices are holding over several high-profile petitions targeting state bans on large-capacity magazines (LCMs).
Instead of rejecting or accepting these cases outright, the Court has repeatedly relisted or delayed them. It is widely expected that the Court will continue to hold these petitions until they issue a ruling in Viramontes and Grant, after which they may return the magazine cases to lower courts for reconsideration. You can see the details in the ROUNDUP Court Cases section.
