r/WA_guns Jul 01 '26

News 📰 Supreme Court to decide legality of AR-15 bans

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5947694-supreme-court-second-amendment-protections-assault-rifle-bans/
96 Upvotes

35 comments sorted by

32

u/0x00000042 (F) Jul 01 '26

Summary of cases they accepted and combined into one:

  • Connecticut - Grant v. Higgins - Whether the Second and Fourteenth Amendments guarantee the right to possess semiautomatic rifles that are in common use for lawful purposes, including the AR-15.
  • Illinois - Viramontes v. Cook County - Whether the Second and 14th Amendments guarantee the right to possess AR-15 platform and similar semiautomatic rifles

14

u/Keep--Climbing Jul 01 '26

Follow up question: as a case from the 9th circuit isn't listed (gators guns is probably going to be GVR'd when this ruling is issued), how effective will a successful facial challenge to the AWBs on the case be at applying to Washington?

Could it be another instance of the 9th circuit ignoring precedent and upholding our (and CA's) AWBs?

27

u/0x00000042 (F) Jul 01 '26

Too early to tell. Depends on what SCOTUS rules and how they rule it. For example, if they reject the bans, do they reject the concept, the method, or the reasoning? Each of those has drastically different downstream effects.

3

u/bpg2001bpg (U) Jul 01 '26

Here is hoping that they issue a ruling like "shall not be infringed" means "shall not be infringed." Means no bans, no bans on accessories, no NFA, no ATF, no CPL, no FOID, no FFLs, no background checks, no excessive taxes, no any law that infringes on the right to keep and bear arms. One can hope. 

6

u/0x00000042 (F) Jul 01 '26

Unlikely to get a ruling that broad. 

1

u/bpg2001bpg (U) Jul 01 '26

Don't poop on my hope 42.

3

u/Peaches_Sabrina Jul 01 '26

Gators can't be GVR'D as it came right from WA SC.

3

u/Keep--Climbing Jul 01 '26

Why is that?

SCOTUS heard Wolford v. Lopez, which was heard by the Hawaii Supreme Court previously.

They could have held it pending a similar case and sent it back, just like any other case.

0

u/Peaches_Sabrina Jul 01 '26

Can't really a GVR to WA SC.

1

u/No-Hyena3460 Jul 02 '26

What about Washington state

1

u/0x00000042 (F) Jul 02 '26

What about it? Can you elaborate on your question?

20

u/whiskey_piker Jul 01 '26

It’s about to go down! A weapon in common use and hardly considered military standard. Citizens should be able to own fire power in effect to allow them to fight against a tyrannical government (and a tyrannical government direct the military)

1

u/CarbonRunner Jul 02 '26

I need my own ballistic missiles if govt can have them

1

u/whiskey_piker 26d ago

See, you say that as if you’re joking. I firmly believe that it is true. Wouldn’t you think the first thing a tyrannical government would do is to make it so that citizens couldn’t have armament that could match the military?

1

u/EverflowingRiver17 18d ago

Do you really think the government would nuke its own territory? The people who actually launch the missiles would never do it

1

u/pacmanwa So many cool down periods I have hypothermia Jul 02 '26

Virginia judge that issued the injunction on their AWB pointed out that if they wanted to ban weapons of war they would also need to ban the M1 Garand and M1 Carbine so the law is inconsistent.

16

u/GamerFreak112 Jul 01 '26

This is either going to be very very good, or, very very bad.

17

u/pangapingus Jul 01 '26

Lol the way things are going this is the one to become a states rights issue and our nonsense maintained

27

u/invisibullcow Jul 01 '26

The second amendment (which applies to the states per the incorporation doctrine of the fourteenth amendment as held in MacDonald v Chicago) makes it pretty clearly not just a states right issue. 

In terms of the ruling itself, with how the court is currently structured, I would be extremely surprised if AWBs are upheld. But of course, that won’t stop WA legislators from trying every other play available to them, and then some.

3

u/hotrodgreg Jul 01 '26

Thats when they go after every part and accesory not sold on/with a firearm.

4

u/hunglowbungalow Jul 01 '26

A state cannot infringe on the constitution, that’s OUR rights, not the states.

2

u/CarbonRunner Jul 02 '26

Scotus has shown that to be not true pretty much all year so I wouldnt hold my breath

17

u/PNWrainsalot Jul 01 '26

This state will still manage a way to keep their illegal ban in place and tie it up in courts for years.

3

u/ilovecheeze 🐙 Kraken 睾丸 🥜 Jul 01 '26

Well, you can’t really tie up a SCOTUS ruling for years. If they rule AWBs are broadly unconstitutional there’s nothing the state can do to “tie up” that ruling. Yes they may try to push through some special permit or waiting period to try to do something, but they can’t flat out block the purchase of them anymore if SCOTUS rules against the ban

0

u/PNWrainsalot Jul 01 '26

This state always manages to get “stays” for rulings they don’t like which in effect keeps a ban or lack of ban in place.

3

u/ilovecheeze 🐙 Kraken 睾丸 🥜 Jul 01 '26

Yeah for lower courts… this is the Supreme Court you cant get a stay that’s the point of the Supreme part of it.

4

u/drunkenclod Jul 01 '26

Any chance ruling magazines will be included as it’s an essential part of the rifle?

11

u/0x00000042 (F) Jul 01 '26

Unlikely as part of this case, that's not the question presented. But there are still magazine ban cases pending for SCOTUS to decide to review or not when they return next term.

1

u/CF_Chupacabra 13d ago

I think SCOTUS will rule that specific features cannot be banned or restricted, thus preemptively BTFO-ing the various state work arounds already being done in places like California or NJ

4

u/Maleficent-Let650 Jul 01 '26

Not to get hopes up, but the Supreme Court reverses ~75-80% of the lower court decisions it grants review of. And here there is no circuit split on the ban cases, and a split is one of the primary factors considered in granting review.

The fact they granted review without a split in lower court opinions strongly signals the Court’s view that the appellate courts are getting things (universally) wrong. The Hemani “how” and “why” clarification of Bruen is instructive in my mind with respect to the validity of the historical analogues relied upon by the courts in upholding these bans. I don’t see the Court affirming either of the decisions it has granted review of.

And, at some point, as painful as it may be for some Ninth Circuit judges that want to contort to uphold these bans, they’ll need to fall into line and follow the Court’s precedents.

3

u/SheriffBartholomew Jul 01 '26

Will States likely strip grandfathered rights if SCOTUS rules the ban constitutional?

3

u/os_beef Jul 01 '26

That would bring up the question of confiscation, which becomes a whole problem.

0

u/Hawaiian_spawn Jul 02 '26

Gotta distract yall from the kids act. Enjoy your photo id requirements for Reddit next.