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June 30, 2026 / 12:21 PM EDT
/ CBS News
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Washington — The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will consider whether the Second Amendment guarantees the right to have AR-15-style rifles.In a brief order, the high court agreed to take up a pair of cases challenging local and state laws outlawing AR-15s and similar semi-automatic rifles. One involves an ordinance in Cook County, Illinois, and the other centers on Connecticut's law.The justices will hear arguments in the cases in its next term, which begins in October.The cases are the first in which the high court will weigh the legality of laws restricting access to certain types of firearms. In a landmark 2022 decision, the Supreme Court recognized for the first time that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to carry a gun in public for self defense. But the justices had — until now — declined to take up challenges involving bans on AR-15s and similar semiautomatic rifles in Illinois and Maryland, leaving the laws in place.Earlier this month, the Supreme Court ruled that occassional marijuana users cannot be prohibited from having firearms, and it struck down a Hawaii measure that generally barred concealed carry permit holders from bringing their guns onto private property open to the public, unless they received permission from the owner.The Connecticut AR-15 banOne of the cases centers on Connecticut's laws that make it a crime to possess so-called assault weapons, including certain semiautomatic rifles like the AR-15. Connecticut first adopted an assault-weapon ban in 1993. The state tightened its restrictions after the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, when a gunman armed with an AR-15-style rifle and large-capacity magazines killed 26 children and teachers.Residents can have a wide range of firearms, including many semiautomatic handguns, rifles and shotguns, according to the state. Fourteen states and the District of Columbia restrict access to semiautomatic weapons.
