FPC Thanks Amici for Support in U.S. Supreme Court Case to End “Assault Weapon” Bans Nationwide

WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 10, 2026) — Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) thanked the numerous people and groups that filed amicus briefs with the United States Supreme Court in support of its Viramontes v. Cook County lawsuit, which asks the Court to hold that bans on so-called “assault weapons” are unconstitutional and that the semiautomatic rifles at issue are protected by the Second Amendment.

“We are deeply grateful to every person and organization that stepped forward to support our case and the rights of the People,” said FPC President Brandon Combs. “These briefs reinforce what we argued in our petition—that our case prevails from every angle: text, history, data, ballistics, real-world use, and constitutional principle—and further demonstrate why the government cannot ban some of the most popular arms in America, period. This historic support strengthens our fight to eliminate these immoral and unconstitutional bans nationwide, and we are honored to Fight Forward alongside so many allies for liberty. On behalf of everyone at FPC and our FPC Grassroots Army, thank you.”

The Viramontes parties, which include FPC, two of its individual members, and the Second Amendment Foundation, are represented by David H. Thompson, Peter A. Patterson, William V. Bergstrom, and J. Joel Alicea of Cooper & Kirk, PLLC. Case documents in Viramontes v. Cook County can be viewed at firearmspolicy.org/viramontes.

Notable excerpts from the amicus briefs include:

The United States: “The AR-15 rifle is unquestionably in common use among law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes. Today, AR-15s are lawful at the federal level and in 40 States. The overwhelming majority of AR-15 owners possess those rifles for the lawful purposes to which they are adapted, such as self-defense in the home, hunting, and target shooting. A ban on possessing such rifles thus violates the Second Amendment.”

Professor William English and The Center for Human Liberty: “The National Firearms Survey’s 2026 wave was fielded by a professional firm to a representative sample of over 51,000 American adults. It reliably shows that roughly one in ten American adults currently owns an AR-15 or similarly styled semi-automatic rifle: 25.0% of gun owners currently own an AR-15 type rifle, 12.9% currently own other similarly styled semi-automatic rifles, and 30.0%— approximately 26.4 million adults—currently own at least one firearm in one of these two categories.”

Ballistics Experts and Second Amendment Law Professors: “The Seventh and Second Circuits claim these rifles are super-dangerous—too powerful and rapid-fire for citizens to have. They are not. They fire the same bullets, at the same velocity, as any other non-banned rifle of the same caliber. The banned rifles are not machine guns—they fire at the same rate as common handguns. The wounds they cause are generally less severe than wounds from other common long guns. They are not unusually dangerous just because they have been used in some mass public shootings.”

Professor Gary Kleck and FPC Action Foundation: “In short, defining an ‘assault weapon’ based on its ability to accept ‘large-capacity magazines’ makes no sense. But this is not lost on legislatures seeking to ban AR-15s; the statutory definitions are simply designed to sweep in all AR-15s and similar semiautomatic rifles, regardless of whether the gun is actually used with so-called large-capacity magazines.”

California Gun Rights Foundation, Danielle Jaymes, and Use of Force Experts: “AR-15s offer several additional advantages over common alternative firearms. In particular, it is easier to gain—and then maintain—proficiency with the AR-15 platform rifle than with a handgun. The AR-15’s straight-line design reduces recoil and makes the rifle easier to control and operate than other long guns. Lower recoil and better control mean better accuracy for most shooters, even very experienced ones. And the AR-15’s modularity allows owners to outfit their rifle to the task of home defense: a sling to free up a hand and facilitate movement; a mounted flashlight to spot and identify an intruder; optics to engage the target.”

Amicus briefs in support of FPC and the other Supreme Court petitioners were filed by or on behalf of the following individuals, organizations, officials, groups, and states:

• Advancing American Freedom

• Alfonso Valencia

• America’s Future

• American Center for Law & Justice

• American Firearms Association

• American Suppressor Association

• American Values

• Asian Pacific American Gun Owners Association

• Aurora Sportsmen’s Club

• B&T USA

• Buckeye Institute

• California Association of Highway Patrolmen

• California Firearms Association

• California Gun Rights Foundation

• California Rifle & Pistol Association

• CANiK

• Carlos Ayala

• Cato Institute

• Center for Human Liberty

• Century Arms

• Charlie Gerow

• Cheryl Johnson

• Christopher Seifert

• Christopher Waddell

• Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms

• Citizens United

• Citizens United Foundation

• Coalition of New Jersey Firearm Owners

• Colorado State Shooting Association

• Commonwealth Second Amendment

• Connecticut Firearms Association

• Conservative Legal Defense and Education Fund

• Corey J. Biazzo

• Crime Prevention Research Center

• Danielle Jaymes

• David Marguglio

• Downsize DC Foundation

• DownsizeDC.org

• Dr. Angus McClellan

• Federal Firearms Licensees of Illinois

• Firearms Regulatory Accountability Coalition

• Florida Carry

• Florida Gun Owners

• FosTecH

• FPC Action Foundation

• G. Antaeus B. Edelsohn

• Gary K. Roberts

• Georgia Gun Owners

• Glenn Reynolds

• Grass Roots North Carolina

• Gun Owners Foundation

• Gun Owners of America

• Gun Owners of California

• Gun Owners of Vermont

• Gun Owners’ Action League

• Hawaii Firearms Coalition

• Hawaii Rifle Association

• Heller Foundation

• Hon. William Wagner

• Huang Tiange

• Idaho Freedom Foundation

• Illinois Firearms Association

• Illinois State Rifle Association

• Independence Institute

• Independent Institute

• Indiana Firearms Coalition

• Indiana State Rifle and Pistol Association

• International Conference of Evangelical Chaplain Endorsers

• Iowa Gun Owners

• J. Buford Boone III

• Javier Herrera, M.D.

• JCCWatch.org

• Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership

• Joe Muha

• Joseph Olson

• Knife Rights

• Knife Rights Foundation

• Knox Williams

• Landmark Legal Foundation

• Lee Francis

• Liberal Gun Club

• Louisiana Family Forum

• Major General (Ret.) D. Allen Youngman

• Melissa Ortiz

• Members of Congress

• Men and Women for a Representative Democracy in America

• Michael Jones

• Michael O’Shea

• Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners

• Michigan Firearms Association

• Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus

• Minnesota Gun Owners Law Center

• Minnesota Gun Rights

• Missouri Firearms Coalition

• Montana Shooting Sports Association

• National African American Gun Association

• National Association for Gun Rights

• National Rifle Association of America

• National Sheriffs’ Association

• National Shooting Sports Foundation

• New Hampshire Firearms Coalition

• New Jersey Firearms Owners Syndicate

• New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs

• New York State Firearms Association

• New York State Rifle & Pistol Association

• Nicholas Johnson

• North Carolina Gun Owners

• NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund

• Ohio Gun Owners

• Ohio Rifle and Pistol Association

• Operation Blazing Sword–Pink Pistols

• Oregon Firearms Educational Foundation

• Palmetto State Armory

• Patrick Lovette

• Peace Officers Research Association of California

• Pennsylvania Firearms Association

• Professor Gary Kleck

• Professor William English

• Randy Barnett

• Richard Lewis

• Rick Vasquez

• Rights Watch International

• Rob Chadwick

• Robert Cottrol

• Rocky Mountain Gun Owners

• Safari Club International

• Second Amendment Defense and Education Coalition

• Second Amendment Law Center

• Stand Up Michigan

• State Legislators including Connecticut Senator Rob Sampson and Alabama Representative Troy Stubbs

• Steven Dember

• Steven Rupp

• Tennessee Firearms Association

• Tennessee Gun Owners

• Texas Gun Rights

• The Second Amendment Institute

• The States of Tennessee, Kansas, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming

• The United States of America

• Tim Jones

• Troy Willis

• Tyler Yzaguirre

• U.S. Constitutional Rights Legal Defense Fund

• U.S. Senators

• U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation

• Vermont Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs

• Virginia Citizens Defense Foundation

• Virginia Citizens Defense League

• Virginia Duncan

• Virginia Shooting Sports Association

• Washington Gun Rights

• Western States Sheriffs’ Association

• Wisconsin Firearms Coalition

• Women for Democracy in America

• Wyoming Gun Owners

Individuals who want to join the FPC Grassroots Army and help support important lawsuits like this one can visit JoinFPC.org.

Media Contact: [email protected]

About Firearms Policy Coalition

Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) is a nonprofit membership organization that exists to create a world of maximal individual liberty and eliminate unconstitutional gun control laws. FPC works—and wins—for the People through high-impact strategic litigation, groundbreaking research, legislative and regulatory advocacy, grassroots activism, education, and public engagement. FPC’s legal division, FPC Law, is the nation’s leading initiative dedicated to restoring the right to keep and bear arms across the United States. To learn more about how FPC is working—and winning—for the People, sign up for FPC news alerts at firearmspolicy.org and follow FPC on X, Instagram, and Facebook.