Supreme Court AR-15 Case Advances + NRA Launches 2026 Bus Tour

The Center Square's Greg Bishop covers the Supreme Court petition over Cook County and Chicago's gun and magazine bans, a Ninth Circuit ruling on recording at California gun stores, three gun bills headed to California Governor Gavin Newsom, the NRA's new bus tour, a New Jersey gun control push, and a CDC report on defensive gun use. Petitioners in Vermontese v. Cook County filed their first Supreme Court brief, arguing the AR-15 falls within the Second Amendment's protections and is distinguishable from weapons found unprotected in Miller and Heller. The case, consolidated with a Connecticut case, asks whether the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect the right to own a semi-automatic rifle; a ruling isn't expected until next summer. Separately, the Ninth Circuit ruled California can require mandatory recording at federally licensed gun stores. California sent three gun bills to Newsom's desk, including SB-948, which would require new gun owners to complete live-fire safety training and new residents to register firearms within 180 days of moving to the state; an NRA lobbyist called the measure burdensome for law-abiding owners. The NRA launched a 63-stop national bus tour ahead of the 2026 midterms, March for Our Lives is pushing a new New Jersey weapons ban after a judge struck down the state's existing ban, and the CDC republished data estimating 60,000 to 2.5 million defensive gun uses occur each year.