Viramontes v. Cook County Granted Certiorari
BY Herschel Smith
2 weeks ago
See SCOTUSBlog.
Whether the Second and 14th Amendments guarantee the right to possess AR-15 platform and similar semiautomatic rifles … Petition GRANTED. The petition for a writ of certiorari in No. 25-566 is granted as to the question presented by the petition in No. 25-238.
The supreme court order is found here.
I have long advocated that the supreme court take up an AR ban case and decide this issue once and for all. Delaying this has done nothing good for either citizens or jurisprudence.
However, there is no reason to necessarily conclude the supreme court will decide this issue in the affirmative, especially with Barrett and Roberts having to be persuaded. But what it will do is stop this incessant whining in state legislatures over the issue. Either the supreme court judges in the affirmative and the issue of decided, or they don’t and states pick off God-granted rights one by one and citizens have to decide whether to fight the political battle (rather than reflexively lean on that tired platitude that “we aren’t voting our way out of this”), or decide to be ready when the SWAT teams come to the front door in the middle of the night.
This will be an extremely clarifying moment in American history.
The attorneys arguing the case are Cooper and kirk. They did the Peterson 5th circuit NFA case and a bunch of others, including Vanderstok, which lost. I don’t know much about them beyond that.
But I do know that if they argue the ridiculous trope about ARs being just some other firearm with extra cosmetic features and that those cosmetic features don’t really have any effect on the use of the weapon, they will lose. It’s not about that. It was never about cosmetic features. It’s about effective firearms for the amelioration of tyranny. “Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of Americans. The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people.” – Tench Coxe, an American political economist and delegate to the Continental Congress, best known for his passionate defense of the right to bear arms. In a 1788 article published in the Pennsylvania Gazette under the pseudonym “A Pennsylvanian.”
This notion of military style weapons is and always has been a misdirect and a bald and stupid emotional appeal. There is no such thing as a non-military style weapon. Every weapon was at one time a military style weapon, from rocks to spears and then to knives and swords and then on to bows and then to muskets, bolt action rifles, and semiautomatic and fully automatic rifles.
The U.S. Marine Corps used Benelli shotguns for room clearing in Now Zad, Afghanistan, and I can prove it.
Door gunners used revolvers in Vietnam, and I can prove it.
MACV-SOG used revolvers and Marlin .444 lever action rifles in Laos, and I can prove it.
And bolt action rifles are still in use today with snipers. Make no mistake about this issue. It’s about disarming the public, not “military style weapons.”
And it’s about far more than just all of the above. A high-powered optic will convert a bolt action deer rifle into a sniper rifle if certain gun controller states get their way.
On July 6, 2026 at 2:09 am, Stefan v. said:
A bunch of folks that swore a solemn oath, to defend against enemies foreign and domestic a creed that states “shall not be infringed”, sure are doing a lot of infringing; declaring themselves “enemies…domestic”.
On July 11, 2026 at 1:51 pm, Chris T in KY said:
The revolver looks like a single action type. Perhaps his own personal side arm? Back in the day its was easy to bring in guns. And take them out. I know aircrew in Alaska carried their personal arms in case they went down in bear country. The military won’t issue loaded weapons in peace time. And if they don’t believe you need it. You won’t get it.
On July 12, 2026 at 6:43 am, X said:
Coupe of points:
1) You are quite right that there is no true distinction between military arms issued to infantrymen and “civilian” arms. What is a Winchester Model 70, after all, if not a sporterized Mauser?
There might be a distinction when it comes to crew-served weapons like a 75mm howitzer, but that is not the legal issue in this case.
2) That being said, as a practical matter, there is no way the Court is EVER going to rule that civilians can have “military” weapons for the “amelioration of tyranny” no matter what Tench Coxe or anyone else wrote in the 18th century.
The Supreme Court is part of the government. It is defended by force of arms against people like us. It is never going to rule that we the people have the right to overthrow it by force of arms if we think it is tyrannical. Indeed, the government it is part of is a global military empire that makes the infringements by George III’s Redcoats look like child’s play.
My prediction is that the the best we can hope for is that they will say that states cannot ban AR-15s outright because of the “common use” standard the Court itself created out of thin air, BUT they will allow registration, licensing, severe restrictions on where ARs can be used and carried, magazine restrictions, and Red Flag confiscations for so much as passing gas in the barn.
Expect that states like NY and CA will impose hoops to jump through to get an “assault weapon permit” that will cost hundreds or thousands, long waiting periods, magazine restrictions to five or even three rounds (just like duck hunters, am I right?), severe storage conditions inspected by the police, and some stupid requirements like “you can only shoot it at an approved range between the hours of 11:00 am and 1:00 pm on Tuesdays.”
3) “citizens have to decide whether to fight the political battle… or decide to be ready when the SWAT teams come to the front door in the middle of the night.”
People are simply not going to do this unless they are urban (mostly black) felons. The states with assault weapons bas have already figured out that they avoid this by letting the white Fudds register and keep their guns until they die, when they will be confiscated from the estate.