Both cases, Grant v. Higgins and Viramontes v. Cook County center around whether the Second and Fourteenth Amendments guarantee the right to possess AR-15 platform and similar semiautomatic rifles. The cases will be heard in the coming Supreme Court session and we will likely not see the opinion until this fall or, if it is contentious enough, next spring. Both of these cases represent years of work and resources from state 2A organizations, national 2A organizations and individuals willing to put their names on the line to protect the rights of free Americans.

The Viramontes case is born out of Illinois’ “assault weapons ban” that limits the types of firearms their citizens can possess, purchase and use for self-defense. The case has been moving through the court system since August of 2021, illustrating how long and how much effort it takes to get to this point.Coming out of Connecticut, the Grant case was filed by the Connecticut Citizens Defense League (CCDL), Connecticut’s largest Second Amendment rights organization.

“It is like coming up for air to see another New England case that could liberate half the country from stupid, tyrannical laws be granted cert by the Supreme Court,” said Mike Harris, Director of Public Policy for GOAL. “With the building-block precedents set by Caetano, Heller, MacDonald, and Bruen, there is a strong chance that we could see these laws be struck down this fall. I am extremely proud to call Holly Sullivan and the CCDL staff friends and their hard work should be congratulated by all Americans.” 

These cases are essential building blocks in Second Amendment jurisprudence and will build on the precedents set by earlier cases. The Caetano case will likely have particular impact on these cases as the precedent it set was that: “…the Second Amendment extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding [and] the Second Amendment is fully applicable to the states.” Building on that precedent as well as the “text, history, and tradition” standard from Bruen could lead to these bans being lifted across the country. The American and his rifle are an avatar for freedom in this country, this is just the modern equivalent.

We can only be hopeful here. While it has been a mixed bag from the Supreme Court lately, their track record on the Second Amendment has been nearly unimpeachable since 2003. GOAL has already been working on soliciting other New England-based 2A groups to partner on an amicus brief to file in this case; we will make that available once it is completed. More to come.