State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke Details CCSAO’s Intention to Defend Cook County’s Assault Weapons Ban Before U.S. Supreme Court

CHICAGO – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge to Cook County’s 1996 ordinance banning the sale, possession and transfer of all assault weapons and large-capacity magazines in the nation’s second largest county. The case, Cutberto Viramontes v. Cook County, will likely be set for briefing in the 2026 Supreme Court term, and argument will be set for a later date.

Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke issued the following statement after the decision: 

“We will not back down from defending Cook County’s long-standing ban on assault weapons. These weapons of war are designed to inflict the maximum amount of carnage and destruction and have no place in our communities. Countless victims have already endured the devastating impact of gun violence. We will defend this lawful ordinance before this nation’s highest court to continue protecting the people of Cook County.”

Assistant State’s Attorney’s Jessica M. Scheller, Prathima Yeddanapudi, and Jonathon Byrer serve as counsel on the case, with support from ASAs Megan Honingford, Edward Brener, Silvia Mercado Masters, and Jessica Wasserman.