NRA-ILA Brief Challenges 'Dramatic Technological Change' Argument Against Semi-Automatic Firearms in Supreme Court Cases
The NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) has submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in the consolidated cases of *Viramontes v. Cook County* and *Grant v. Higgins*. These cases challenge 'assault-weapons' bans in Cook County, Illinois, and Connecticut. The brief, co-authored by Joe Greenlee, director of the Office of Litigation Counsel at NRA-ILA, aims to counter the argument that modern semi-automatic firearms represent a 'dramatic technological change' that the Founding Fathers could not have envisioned. The NRA-ILA's brief traces the history of repeating arms from approximately 1490 to demonstrate that modern semi-automatic rifles are not a sudden innovation but rather the culmination of five centuries of incremental advancements in firearm technology. This historical context is intended to reinforce the argument that the Second Amendment, as interpreted by the Supreme Court in *Heller* (2008) and *Bruen* (2022), protects arms in common use, including semi-automatics.
