Second Amendment Foundation Lawsuit Could Sink Semiauto Bans

Cook County, Illinois/United States – -(AmmoLand.com)- Bans on modern multi-purpose semi-automatic firearms have been pushed by anti-Second Amendment extremists for decades.

The real question is how to take out these bans. Many of the states that have these bans are said to be deep “blue” states, and the same goes for localities. The best solution, of course, is to have a pro-Second Amendment legislature that prevents such bans from being enacted in the first place, or which can repeal said bans quickly.

In Ilinois, though, that option is not available in the near future. That leaves litigation, and the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) has filed suit to invalidate Cook County’s ban on modern multi-purpose semiautomatic firearms. The 19-page complaint in Viramontes v. Cook County leaves little room for evasion of the fundamental issue, as well.

SAF filed suit against the Blair Holt Assault Weapons Ban on behalf of three members living in Chicago. If the “Blair Holt” part sounds familiar, it’s because that name has been used for a licensing and registration scheme in legislation proposed during some recent Congresses. And like the bills proposed in various Congresses. As of this writing, the Blair Holt Firearm Owner Licensing and Record of Sale Act has not been introduced in the 117th Congress, but the assault weapons ban in Cook County inflicts injustice on those who seek to exercise their Second Amendment rights.

It should be said that litigation is not a sure thing, even in a case like this. For starters, a lot of lower courts have ignored the plain reading of Heller, particularly when it comes to modern multi-purpose semiautomatic firearms. The National Shooting Sports Foundation noted that 16 million “modern sporting rifles” were sold by 2018. By comparison, Chevrolet announced its 10 millionth Suburban in 2015.

In this case, Second Amendment supporters can take the flawed but infamous “car” analogy that anti-Second Amendment extremists use and turn it on them. After all, one could argue that the Chevy Suburban has been in common use for lawful purposes for a long time, right? If that is the case, then certainly the same thing can be said about modern multi-purpose semiautomatic long guns, like the AR-15. After all, 16 million is a lot more than 10 million.

The fact of the matter is that millions of Americans have owned these firearms and have not committed horrific crimes or acts of madness. Should Viramontes v. Cook County reach the Supreme Court, the odds of a pro-Second Amendment ruling are quite good. We could very well get a preview of this with New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, which will be heard this November.

That said, it is better if these bans never pass in the first place, so Second Amendment supporters should work to defeat anti-Second Amendment extremists in federal, state, and local offices via the ballot box as soon as possible.

About Harold Hutchison

Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.