US supreme court agrees to hear challenges to assault-weapons bans

The US supreme court will consider whether bans on semi-automatic rifles, often called assault weapons, violate the second amendment. The justices said Tuesday they will hear appeals challenging bans on the AR-15 and similar semi-automatic firearms in Connecticut and the Chicago area. Similar laws are in place in about a dozen states, covering major cities like New York, Los Angeles and Washington DC. Congress allowed a national assault weapons ban to expire in 2004, but Democrats have supported renewing it in response to a series of mass shootings. States have also continued to pass their own laws, including recent measures in Virginia and Rhode Island. It is the latest high-profile dispute over guns to reach the court since its conservative majority handed down a landmark ruling in 2022 that expanded second amendment rights and spawned challenges to firearm laws around the country. Arguments are expected to be heard in the fall. The Connecticut law was passed after a mass shooter used an AR-15 to kill 26 children and educators at Sandy Hook elementary in 2012. The state says the guns are a preferred weapon of mass shooters, and they can be banned because they are similar to military-grade weapons. “These laws are critical public safety measures, and they are consistent with the second amendment,” said Janet Carter, managing director of second amendment litigation at the gun-control group Everytown Law. …