New Jersey attorney general joins multistate effort defending assault weapons restrictions before Supreme Court
TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport is co-leading a coalition of state attorneys general urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold state and local restrictions on certain semiautomatic firearms, including AR-15-style rifles.
Davenport announced that New Jersey and Massachusetts filed a multistate friend-of-the-court brief supporting Cook County, Illinois, and Connecticut as the Supreme Court prepares to consider constitutional challenges to their assault weapons restrictions.
The brief, joined by attorneys general from 17 other states and the District of Columbia, argues that restrictions on certain semiautomatic rifles are consistent with the Second Amendment and the nation’s historical tradition of regulating weapons considered unusually dangerous.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments Dec. 2, 2026, in two consolidated cases, Viramontes v. Cook County and Grant v. Higgins. A decision is expected before the court’s current term concludes in the summer of 2027.
“When especially dangerous weapons inflict mass casualties and turn schools, houses of worship, nightclubs, and grocery stores into war zones, states must be able to act to protect the public. That’s why we are leading a multistate coalition urging the U.S. Supreme Court to recognize that states have the power to regulate lethal battlefield weapons like AR-15s,” said Attorney General Davenport. “Let me be clear: We will do everything in our power to combat all forms of gun violence, including by keeping especially dangerous weapons off our streets.”
Supreme Court to consider two firearm restriction cases
The legal challenges involve restrictions adopted by Cook County and Connecticut that limit possession of certain semiautomatic firearms classified as assault weapons under their respective laws.
Cook County first enacted assault weapons regulations in 1993 and strengthened its ordinance in 2006 through the Blair Holt Assault Weapons Ban. The measure was named in memory of Blair Holt, a 16-year-old student and son of a Chicago police officer who was fatally shot aboard a city bus after school.
Connecticut expanded its existing assault weapons restrictions following the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, where a gunman using an AR-15-style rifle killed 20 children and six educators.
The consolidated cases raise questions about whether the Second and Fourteenth Amendments permit state and local governments to restrict firearms covered by those laws.
The attorneys general argue that governments have historically possessed authority to regulate weapons that present exceptional dangers to public safety. Their brief contends that modern restrictions on certain semiautomatic rifles fall within that authority.
Coalition cites historical firearm regulations
The coalition’s argument relies in part on the legal standard established by the Supreme Court in its 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which requires firearm regulations to be evaluated against the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.
According to the brief, laws regulating unusually dangerous weapons can be traced to England in the 1300s, with similar principles continuing through English common law and the founding of the United States.
The attorneys general contend that this history supports the authority of states and local governments to restrict weapons they consider particularly dangerous, including certain AR-15- and AK-47-style semiautomatic rifles.
The coalition also argues that the firearms covered by the restrictions can inflict extensive injuries in mass shootings and that limitations on their availability serve an important public safety purpose. Those claims form part of the states’ legal argument in support of the challenged laws.
The opposing legal position centers on whether the restrictions violate the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. The Supreme Court’s consideration of the cases will address how the Second Amendment applies to the categories of firearms covered by the Cook County and Connecticut laws.
Attorneys general from multiple states join brief
Davenport is co-leading the filing with Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell.
The coalition also includes attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, along with the District of Columbia.
The filing comes as the Supreme Court prepares to examine the constitutionality of the two restrictions, with the eventual ruling potentially affecting how states and local governments regulate certain semiautomatic firearms.
Oral arguments are scheduled for Dec. 2, with a decision expected by summer 2027.
