Second Amendment Foundation challenges assault weapons bans in Supreme Court

The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) has filed an opening brief with the U.S. Supreme Court challenging assault weapons bans in Cook County, Illinois, and Connecticut. The cases, Viramontes v. Cook County and Grant v. Higgins, question whether states can categorically ban widely owned semiautomatic rifles, such as the AR-15.

In related developments regarding firearm data, the 2026 National Firearms Survey by Professor Bill English suggests significant trends in defensive gun use. The survey estimates that American civilians use firearms for self-defense or to protect others approximately 2.2 million times annually. According to the data, roughly 37% of American gun owners have used a firearm for protection at least once, with 70% of these instances resulting in successful outcomes where no crime remained to be reported to police.