The AR-15 Supreme Court case is set. At 10 a.m. on Wednesday, December 2, the Court hears one hour of argument on whether the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect the right to own AR-15 platform rifles. Ohio Gun Owners has already filed its amicus brief, the governments defending these bans file their briefs October 21st, and New Jersey is already asking the Court for a do-over on its own bans.
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Supreme Court AR-15 case
December 2nd: the AR-15 goes before the Supreme Court.
Last month, Ohio Gun Owners filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court in the biggest Second Amendment case in years. Now the Court’s calendar is set, and the clock is running.
The Supreme Court hears the AR-15 case at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, December 2. It’s two cases rolled into one: Viramontes v. Cook County (No. 25-238), a challenge to Cook County, Illinois’s ban, and Grant v. Higgins (No. 25-566), a challenge to Connecticut’s. The Court consolidated them for one hour of argument on a single question: “Whether the Second and Fourteenth Amendments guarantee the right to possess AR-15 platform and similar semiautomatic rifles.”
What happens between now and then
The road to December 2nd
June 30
The Supreme Court agrees to hear the two AR-15 cases together.
September 4
The Supreme Court sets argument for Wednesday, December 2nd.
September
Ohio Gun Owners files its amicus brief with the Supreme Court.
October 1
New Jersey files No. 26-452, asking the Court to revive its own bans.
October 21
The governments defending these bans file their briefs.
Wednesday, December 2, 10 a.m.
One hour of oral argument in Viramontes v. Cook County and Grant v. Higgins.
Circle October 21st. That’s when the other side lays out its case for why government should get to ban a rifle that, as our brief explains, more than 20 million Americans own for lawful purposes.
New Jersey is already lining up behind this case
New Jersey lost in the federal appeals court, 10 to 5, on its AR-15 and magazine bans. Now it’s asking the Supreme Court to wipe out that win after it decides the December case.
Its petition, No. 26-452, was filed October 1st. It asks the Court to hold New Jersey’s case until it rules in Viramontes and Grant, then send it back down. New Jersey gun owners won that fight fair and square, and the state wants a do-over. And because the petition also asks about New Jersey’s magazine limit, the magazine fight is next in line.
What Ohio Gun Owners told the Court
Our brief makes the case that AR-15s are protected “arms” under the plain text of the Second Amendment, and that Americans own them for self-defense, hunting and target shooting. It also takes on the arguments the other side keeps leaning on:
- It warns the Court that governments can’t be allowed to ban a firearm and then turn around and call it “uncommon” because the ban kept people from owning it.
- It shows how lower courts have ignored Heller and Bruen, bringing interest-balancing back into their rulings under different names.
- It takes apart the argument that AR-15s can be banned because they look like rifles used by the military.
You can read OGO’s Supreme Court amicus brief for yourself.
Why this case matters in Ohio
About a dozen states have passed so-called “assault weapons” bans. If we win, it could mean the end of those bans, and it would make it close to impossible for anyone to pass one here in Ohio.
If we lose, the politicians pushing these bans get the Supreme Court’s blessing to keep going, New Jersey gets its bans back, and Ohio wouldn’t be off limits. That’s why Ohio Gun Owners is in this fight.
Help OGO see this through
A Supreme Court fight doesn’t end when the brief is filed. It runs through the other side’s October 21st filing, argument day on December 2nd, and the ruling after that. Will you chip in $25 today to support Ohio Gun Owners’ Supreme Court work?
| CHIP IN $25 FOR THE SUPREME COURT FIGHT |
Or chip in $25 to support OGO’s Supreme Court fight here.
For Freedom,
Rob Knisley
Political Director
Ohio Gun Owners
P.S. The Supreme Court hears the AR-15 case at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, December 2, and New Jersey is already asking for a do-over on its own bans. Read our brief, then chip in $25 to support OGO’s Supreme Court fight.