The Supreme Court agreed June 30 to decide whether the Second Amendment protects AR-15-style rifles, consolidating Illinois and Connecticut ban challenges for a 2027 ruling.
The Supreme Court granted certiorari on June 30, 2026, in two consolidated cases challenging state-level bans on AR-15-style semiautomatic rifles, agreeing to decide directly whether the Second Amendment protects the right to possess that class of firearm [1]. The cases, *Viramontes v. Cook County* and *Grant v. Higgins*, arise from Illinois and Connecticut laws that prohibit the sale and possession of semiautomatic rifles commonly referred to as assault weapons [1]. The Court acted on the final day of its October 2025 term [1].
The two cases reached the justices after years of conflicting rulings in the federal circuits following *New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen* (2022), which established a text-and-history framework for evaluating firearms regulations [3]. Lower courts applying that standard have split on whether assault weapons bans survive constitutional scrutiny, leaving the question unresolved for legislatures and litigants in more than a dozen states with similar laws [3]. The Second Amendment Foundation and the Firearms Policy Coalition are among the organizations that backed the petitions [2]. The consolidated cases will be argued together, with oral argument expected in the fall 2026 sitting [1].
The Court's decision to grant certiorari makes this the most consequential Second Amendment case since *Bruen* itself [3]. At stake are statutes in states including Illinois and Connecticut that ban the sale and possession of semiautomatic rifles by name or by feature, affecting millions of firearms already in circulation [2]. A ruling in favor of the challengers could void assault weapons laws across a broad swath of the country; a ruling upholding the bans would provide the first definitive constitutional floor permitting such legislation and would resolve the circuit conflict [3]. Either outcome will reshape the landscape of state and federal gun regulation for years [3].
The Court is expected to issue a merits ruling by the end of the October 2026 term, no later than June 2027 [1]. Briefing schedules will be set following the summer recess. Amicus activity is expected to be extensive, with gun-rights organizations, state attorneys general, and public-health advocates all likely to file [2]. The decision will also test how far the current Court is prepared to extend the *Bruen* framework beyond the handgun context in which the Second Amendment's individual-right doctrine first developed [3].