The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) is taking its fight against Illinois-style gun bans to the highest court in the land.
On August 27, 2025, the group formally petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review Viramontes v. Cook County, a long-running case challenging the county’s prohibition on so-called “assault weapons.”
Case Background
Filed in 2021, Viramontes was paused while the Supreme Court decided Bruen in 2022 and while Illinois lawmakers passed their own sweeping “assault weapons” ban—legislation now under fire in SAF’s separate case, Harrel v. Raoul.
Cook County’s ordinance mirrors the statewide law, barring ownership of AR-15s and other semi-automatic rifles that millions of Americans lawfully own. SAF is joined in the suit by the Firearms Policy Coalition and two private citizens.
Why This Case Matters
According to SAF, the Cook County ban strikes at the heart of the Second Amendment by outlawing ordinary firearms in common use. The group points out that “assault weapon” is a political invention designed to blur the line between semi-automatics and machine guns.
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Bill Sack, SAF’s Director of Legal Operations, said the Supreme Court has signaled interest in taking up rifle bans soon, and that this case is “a solid vehicle for that review.”
Justice Clarence Thomas recently underscored that point in his dissent from the denial of Snope v. Brown, warning that continued delays leave millions of Americans stripped of their rights.
SAF’s Position
SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb criticized Cook County’s law as an ideological attempt to disarm residents:
“The disenfranchisement of an entire population of residents is an absolute infringement on their Second Amendment rights,” he said. “We’ve fought this case for far too long and it’s time for the Supreme Court to step in.”
The petition argues that AR-15s are functionally no different from other semi-automatic rifles, making them protected under the Court’s Heller and Bruen precedents, which safeguard firearms in “common use.”
What’s Next
If the Supreme Court agrees to hear Viramontes, the case could become a major test of whether bans on America’s most popular rifles can stand under the Constitution.
With Illinois’ statewide ban also under review in Harrel v. Raoul, the stakes are high. A ruling could not only resolve years of litigation in Chicago’s Cook County but also ripple across states like California, New York, and New Jersey, which enforce similar restrictions.
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