--- description: Justice Antonin Scalia joined Justice Clarence Thomas in the dissent of that decision title: U.S. Supreme Court Will Not Hear Case on Assault Weapons Ban image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b6048c371f0cadd/6988740b0b72e3653b6e7231/assault-rifle2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Supreme Court Won't Hear Case on Assault Weapons Ban in Illinois by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 7, 2015 3:37 PM CUT  An AR-15 is seen for sale on the wall at the National Armory gun store on Jan.16, 2013 in Pompano Beach, Fl. An AR-15 is seen for sale on the wall at the National Armory gun store on Jan.16, 2013 in Pompano Beach, Fl.Joe Raedle—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 7, 2015 3:37 PM CUT The U.S. Supreme Court [will not take up a challenge](http://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/120715zor%5F6j37.pdf "undefined") to an Illinois assault weapons ban, according to orders released on Monday by the court. The court denied a writ of certiorari to the case of _Arie S. Friedman v. Highland Park_, in which the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ban on the possession, sale, and manufacturing of many semiautomatic weapons, including high powered assault rifles in the Illinois town. In that case, the Circuit Court found that gun-owners still had a number of options on weapons they could use to protect themselves with the ban in place. The lower court also said the ban [helps the public feel safer ](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/12/07/supreme-court-guns-assault-weapons-semiautomatic-ban/73817344/ "undefined")given that many mass shooters, including the couple who recently carried out the attack in San Bernardino, Calif., use these types of weapons. **Read More:** [Guns Sales Spike Across the U.S. ](http://time.com/4137749/gun-sales-spike-san-bernardino/ "undefined") Though the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear oral arguments on the case indicates they did not see a clear reason to challenge the Circuit Court’s ruling, two Justices–Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas–issued a dissent on that decision. Justice Thomas wrote that,”if a broad ban on firearms can be upheld based on conjecture that the public might feel safer (while being no safer at all), then the Second Amendment guarantees nothing.” Thomas also argued the appellant court decision was at odds with precedent on the issue of assault weapons bans and the Second Amendment. **Read More**: [Why the San Bernardino Shooting is Unprecedented ](http://time.com/4135049/san-bernardino-shooting-psychology/ "undefined") Read the full dissent [here.](http://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/120715zor%5F6j37.pdf "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4138317/supreme-court-assault-weapons-ban/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4138317/supreme-court-assault-weapons-ban/"},"headline":"Supreme Court Won't Hear Case on Assault Weapons Ban in Illinois","datePublished":"2015-12-07T15:37:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:09:22.171Z","description":"Justice Antonin Scalia joined Justice Clarence Thomas in the dissent of that decision","url":"https://time.com/4138317/supreme-court-assault-weapons-ban/","keywords":["Guns","san bernardino","San Bernardino Shooting"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b6048c371f0cadd/6988740b0b72e3653b6e7231/assault-rifle2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b6048c371f0cadd/6988740b0b72e3653b6e7231/assault-rifle2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Obama's Issues 23 Executive Orders, His First Step In Broad Gun Control Plan","caption":"Obama's Issues 23 Executive Orders, His First Step In Broad Gun Control Plan","creditText":"Joe Raedle—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4138317/supreme-court-assault-weapons-ban/","name":"Supreme Court Won't Hear Case on Assault Weapons Ban in Illinois"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"2015 Sees Increased Interest in Gun Sales","description":"After the San Bernardino shootings, local gun shop owners say sales have skyrocketed, which highlights a pattern that has become predictable.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/5MhSkpHw/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-12-06T20:03:21.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/5MhSkpHw.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4138317/supreme-court-assault-weapons-ban/","duration":"PT1M8S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4138317/supreme-court-assault-weapons-ban/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```