The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear a pair of cases challenging state and local bans on semiautomatic rifles, including the AR-15, presenting the justices with the question of whether such restrictions violate the Second Amendment.
The court will review a challenge to Cook County, Illinois’s ban and a challenge to Connecticut’s prohibition on semiautomatic rifles. Lower courts had upheld both laws.
Similar bans exist in about a dozen states, covering major cities including New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. Congress allowed a federal assault weapons ban to expire in 2004, but Democrats have supported renewing it in response to mass shootings. States including Virginia and Rhode Island have recently passed their own measures.
Gun-rights advocates argue that the Second Amendment protects the right to own AR-15s and similar rifles, which they say are among the most commonly owned rifles in the country. Gun-control advocates say the weapons are a preferred choice of mass shooters.
Arguments are expected to be heard in the fall.