Police chiefs' group urges the Supreme Court to uphold rifle bans

The International Association of Chiefs of Police has filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to uphold the rifle restrictions in Viramontes v. Cook County and Grant v. Higgins. Jared Yanis, a retired police sergeant, walks through the brief and argues it leans on officer-safety concerns rather than the historical tradition the Bruen framework requires.

Key points

• The brief's core argument: The IACP says handguns and soft body armor leave officers outgunned against criminals carrying semi-automatic rifles.
• The rebuttal: Yanis says acknowledging a rifle's range and capability does not establish a constitutional basis for banning it from law-abiding owners.
• Cited incidents: The brief references the 2024 Charlotte shooting that killed four officers, and officer deaths in Colorado, Sacramento, New Mexico, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.
• Statistic questioned: The IACP notes 37% of U.S. officers work in states with rifle restrictions, which Yanis says proves nothing about whether those laws prevent attacks.
• Timeline: Oral arguments are scheduled for December 2.

Quick take

Yanis frames this as an advocacy brief, not a ruling, and stresses that other law enforcement groups have filed on the opposite side. The argument throughout is that officer-safety concerns, however real, do not substitute for the historical analysis Bruen demands.

Watch the full video: Jared Yanis