Viramontes v. Cook County  by Bo Rabarsky

The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) begins its new term and the justices are going to be deciding cases with critical implications for the Second Amendment.

The main stream media believes SCOTUS faces dwindling trust, based on polls suggesting some Americans find SCOTUS to be increasingly political.  Actually, it’s Democrats that find the court to be ‘political’ since SCOTUS is following the Constitution, which always causes them distress.

The court has already agreed to hear about 29 cases in its upcoming term, but additional cases are expected to be added in the coming weeks and months.

Viramontes v. Cook County

One of the most important 2nd Amendment cases will be Viramontes v. Cook County, SCOTUS will decide whether the 2nd and 14th Amendments guarantee the right of an individual to possess AR-15s and other similar semiautomatic rifles.

Cutberto Viramontes and others are challenging Cook County, Illinois over a ban on AR-15s.  (Cook County includes Chicago which has some of the strictest gun control laws and weekly features numerous murders.)

Viramontes and company are focusing on a quote by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who in a prior opinion wrote that there is a “…strong argument that AR-15s are in ‘common use’ by law-abiding citizens and therefore are protected by the Second Amendment…The AR-15 platform rifle is the modern descendant of the rifles that were borne by the militiamen of the Revolution and the pioneers who struck out West in search of a better life. The question can be fairly asked, if the Second Amendment does not protect it, what could it possibly protect?”

The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office used the usual anti-2A descriptions in defending its position: “Assault weapons;” “instruments of war;” “carnage and destruction.”  Cook County has no doubt that semi-automatics, “…have no place in our communities.” “Countless victims” have “…endured the devastating impact of gun violence.”

They may have difficulty backing up the “countless victims” statement since AR15’s are rarely used in murders, especially in Chicago

And of course, SCOTUS doesn’t know what it’s doing while the legal beagles in Cook County are constitutional experts.  Cook County said: “The court’s conservative majority has developed a confusing approach to the Second Amendment that is notoriously difficult to apply legally, yet consistently favors gun-rights advocates.” 

According to Cook County, if a decision favors gun-rights advocates, it must be wrong, even if the Constitution of the United States says otherwise.