By Fred Lucas | The Daily Signal
The Supreme Court will hear arguments this fall in cases involving the First Amendment, the Second Amendment, parental rights, and election integrity.
Here are five key cases to watch.
1. Another Test for the Second Amendment
On Dec. 2, justices will consider whether state and local governments can ban semiautomatic rifles such as the AR-15 in cases out of Cook County, Illinois, and Connecticut.
In Viramontes v. Cook County, the plaintiff, Cutberto Viramontes, sued in 2021 over the county’s ban on AR-15 rifles and similar semiautomatic rifles.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the law, ruling that Supreme Court precedent would allow regulation of certain weapons and citing the Heller and Bruen rulings.
The other case is Grant v. Higgins. Connecticut enacted gun control laws after the Sandy Hook school massacre, in which a gunman murdered 20 first graders and six adults. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Connecticut law, ruling that it “imposes targeted restrictions on unusually dangerous weapons.”
Gun control advocates have argued that the Second Amendment does not protect an individual’s right to bear arms, but rather the collective right to a regulated militia, noted Matthew Cavedon, director of the Project on Criminal Justice at the Cato Institute.
“People often say the Founders never envisioned bazookas and nuclear weapons, and that’s likely true,” Cavedon told the Daily Signal. “At the same time, if you are called for milita duty, you were expected to bring your own small arms, standard use, which is what an AR-15 is. This is at the heart of what the Second Amendment was meant to protect.”
2. Stopping Noncitizen Voting
On Dec. 8, justices will hear arguments about proof-of-citizenship laws in Republican National Committee v. Mi Familia Vota.
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