Ranking Member Raskin, McBath, Durbin, Blumenthal and Sen. Schiff Lead Bicameral Supreme Court Amicus Brief Defending Constitutional Authority to Pass Laws Regarding Assault Weapons

Brief Signed by 189 Democrats Defends Authority of Congress, States and Local Lawmakers to Respond to Gun Violence and Pass Commonsense Gun Safety Laws

Washington, D.C. (October 29, 2026)—Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee; Rep. Lucy McBath, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance; Senator Dick Durbin, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee; Senator Richard Blumenthal, Ranking Member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations; and Senator Adam Schiff, led 189 Members of Congress in filing a bicameral amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to preserve the constitutional authority of lawmakers to pass laws concerning assault weapons.

“Although the Second Amendment imposes constitutional limits on firearms regulation, within those limits, decisions about whether and how to regulate assault weapons properly belong to federal, state and local lawmakers. The judiciary’s role is to interpret and enforce those constitutional limits, not to choose among the policy options that remain available,” the lawmakers wrote.

The brief was filed in Cutberto Viramontes, et al. v. Cook County, Illinois, et al., a case challenging two state-level laws banning the possession and sale of AR-15s and similar semiautomatic rifles. The lawmakers urge the Court to reject a sweeping rule that would prevent Congress, state and local lawmakers from regulating these weapons.

The brief argues that the Constitution gives lawmakers the power to legislate gun safety, consistent with the Second Amendment. The Constitution recognizes that Congress and other elected lawmakers are uniquely situated to make policy judgments because they hear from their constituents, who they are accountable to, weigh competing evidence, and revisit their decisions as weapons, technology, evidence, and experience change.

Judiciary Democrats are fighting to keep dangerous weapons out of the wrong hands and protect communities across the country from gun violence. Ranking Members Raskin and McBath led Committee Democrats in opposing ATF’s proposed rollback of federal firearms safeguards, warning that the changes would weaken background checks and make it harder to prevent gun trafficking while making our communities less safe. Ranking Member Raskin also reintroduced the Clean Hands Firearm Procurement Act, which would prevent federal agencies from contracting with gun dealers linked to high numbers of firearms recovered shortly after their sale. Most recently, Ranking Members Raskin and McBath joined Rep. Mike Thompson, Chair of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, in leading 174 Members of Congress in calling on DOJ to enforce the federal law prohibiting licensed dealers from selling handguns to individuals under 21. 

Click here to read the brief.