Supreme Court Keeps AR-15 Ban Case Alive Despite Mootness Bid

The Supreme Court is pressing ahead with oral arguments on "assault weapons" bans set for December 2, brushing past a last-minute procedural move by Cook County that tried to get its case tossed as moot.

Snapshot

According to Bearing Arms, the Court's latest orders list granted Solicitor General D. John Sauer's request for the DOJ to take part in oral arguments, while leaving unresolved lead plaintiff Cutberto Viramontes's unexplained bid to withdraw from the Cook County, Illinois case. Cook County State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke is arguing that withdrawal makes the suit moot, but the author says that argument won't stop the broader fight over AR-15-style rifles.

Key points

• DOJ gets a seat at the table: The justices granted Solicitor General Sauer's motion to join oral arguments on December 2, after the Trump administration already filed a brief opposing the bans.
• Mootness claim unresolved: The Court has not yet ruled on Viramontes's request to drop out or Burke's argument that his exit kills the Cook County case.
• Other plaintiffs still stand: Bearing Arms notes the Court could simply keep Viramontes in the case, as it did with a transgender athlete who tried the same move last year, or let other individual and organizational plaintiffs carry the suit forward.
• Connecticut case unaffected: Even if Cook County's challenge gets tossed, the consolidated Connecticut gun-ban case stays before the Court, keeping the core Second Amendment question alive.
• Gun-control side pushing back: Everytown Law's Janet Carter called Viramontes's silent withdrawal "unprecedented," though the author counters that plaintiffs aren't obligated to explain themselves.

Quick take

Bearing Arms argues this is a procedural sideshow, not an escape hatch. Millions of Americans own AR-15s, and millions more live under state bans on them; with Connecticut's case intact regardless of what happens to Cook County, the author believes December 2 oral arguments will finally force a real answer on whether these bans survive the Second Amendment.

Read the full story: bearingarms.com