“The Second Amendment does not entitle civilians to carry firearms that are designed for military combat.”

Prosecutors Against Gun Violence (PAGV), led by Co-Chairs Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., and Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein, today announced the filing of an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in Viramontes v. Cook County and Grant v. Higgins, urging the Court to affirm the decisions of the Second and Seventh Circuits upholding Connecticut and Illinois’s assault weapons bans.

PAGV Co-Chair Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., Manhattan District Attorney said, “Simply put, states should be able to enforce bans on weapons of war. Shooters firing assault weapons can cause unprecedented carnage, as our coalition’s members have seen in far too many mass shootings. Prosecutors Against Gun Violence urges the Supreme Court to uphold Illinois and Connecticut’s assault weapons bans.”

PAGV Co-Chair Zach Klein, Columbus City Attorney said, “As we saw in Dayton, Uvalde, and in too many American cities, unhinged individuals who have no regard for human life and access to extreme firepower can cause mass casualties in a matter of seconds. States should have the ability to limit these weapons, and we urge the Supreme Court to uphold state-led bans in Illinois and Connecticut that help curb senseless violence.”

Prosecutors Against Gun Violence is an independent coalition of prosecutors from diverse jurisdictions throughout the United States. PAGV members enforce comparable assault-weapon bans in New York, California, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Washington.

The experience of PAGV and its members confirms that “assault weapons bans can help address what has become an exceptionally dangerous threat to members of the public and law-enforcement officers throughout the United States.”

The brief argues that “The Second Amendment does not entitle civilians to carry firearms that are designed for military combat,” such as the AR-15 rifle. Designed to deliver rapid semiautomatic fire, AR-15 rifles “pose a novel regulatory challenge that the Founders could not have foreseen,” the brief continues. Assault rifles “enable criminals to inflict unprecedented harms because these guns serve as an “equalizer” between amateur marksmen and trained professionals,” including law enforcement officers and armed security guards. Not only can amateur shooters “outgun” first responders, but assault rifles “enable lone gunmen to kill people so quickly that it is frequently impossible for police responders to prevent mass casualties.”

The brief concludes: “The technological advances that have enabled solo amateur shooters to pose such a grave and unmanageable threat constitute a serious regulatory challenge that is well beyond anything that the Founders or the Reconstruction generation could have foreseen. Accordingly, Bruen’s historical tradition test gives states more leeway to regulate AR-15s than they would have when dealing with other kinds of firearms.”

Assistant District Attorneys John Hughes (Deputy Chief of the Appeals Division) and Brent Yarnell of the Manhattan D.A.’s Office prepared the amicus brief, under the supervision of Executive Assistant D.A. Steven Wu (Chief of the Appeals Division) with assistance from Paralegal Chloe Christopher (Appeals Division).

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PAGV is an independent coalition of prosecutors from diverse jurisdictions throughout the United States, working toward solutions to end gun violence. The group is co-chaired by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., and Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein, and brings together prosecutors to discuss policies, legislation, and strategies to help prevent and confront gun violence in their jurisdictions.