DES MOINES—Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird joined a 27-State coalition in a brief, urging the United States Supreme Court to reject Illinois’s unconstitutional ban on AR-15s and other semi-automatic rifles.

In 2023, Illinois passed a law that banned the manufacture, importation, sale, and ownership of so-called “assault weapons,” including AR-15 rifles and standard-capacity magazines. A recent federal court decision upheld Illinois’s gun ban, ruling AR-15s and magazines are not “arms” under the Second Amendment because they are supposedly “militaristic.” That court’s decision lacks historical basis in the law and goes against earlier U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

“Illinois’s gun ban is an outright assault on Americans’ Second Amendment rights,” said Attorney General Bird. “Every American has a fundamental right to protect themselves and their loved ones. My office is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to do the right thing and protect Americans’ constitutional rights.”

The brief urges the Supreme Court to correct the lower court’s decision and uphold Americans’ right to bear arms.

Iowa joined 26 other states in the Idaho and Indiana-led amicus brief.

Read the full amicus brief here.

###

For More Information:

Alyssa Brouillet | Communications Director

(515) 823-9112

alyssa.brouillet@ag.iowa.gov