Attorney General Statement on Supreme Court Certification in Challenge to Connecticut's Assault Weapon Ban

06/30/2026

(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong released the following statement regarding the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Grant v. Higgins, a challenge to Connecticut’s post- Sandy Hook assault weapon ban.

“Connecticut’s assault weapon ban is lawful, lifesaving, and broadly supported. The gun lobby has flooded the courts in states across the country to get an assault weapons case up to this Supreme Court. We are prepared for this fight, and we are going to go in with everything we’ve got to keep these weapons of war off our streets, out of our schools, and away from our families,” said Attorney General Tong.

Connecticut passed its assault weapons ban in 2013 following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, where a gunman armed with an AR-15 style rifle murdered 20 children and six educators in under five minutes. This law prohibits the sale and transfer of military-style assault weapons and is in line with several other states’ similar laws designed to protect public safety.

Connecticut has successfully defended this assault weapon ban several times. In August 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the law, recognizing that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms is “not unlimited.” It further recognized that Connecticut’s gun laws impose reasonable restrictions on unusually dangerous weapons “uniquely designed to create mayhem.” The decision also found Connecticut’s laws preserve numerous legal avenues for self-defense and other lawful purposes, and do not impair the core constitutional right to self-defense under the Second Amendment. The Court determined that Connecticut’s laws are entirely consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulations.

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Elizabeth Benton
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