In the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), that acknowledged the Second Amendment protects the individual right to keep and bear arms, Justice Antonin Scalia noted some of the arms that come under this protection. This included arms “‘in common use at the time’ for lawful purposes like self-defense.”
Gun rights supporters know that any reasonable adherence to this decision would preclude the types of so-called “assault weapons” bans that gun control activists push. After all, gun controllers’ favorite target, the AR-15, is the most popular rifle in America.
A May 13 New York Times article titled “Where Did All the AK-47s Go?” suggested the newspaper of record considers the similarly-targeted AK-pattern rifle as a common civilian firearm. The article described how changes, including foreign conflicts, have made AKs and their standard calibers of ammunition harder to come by in the market.
Part of the article noted, “A family of guns that was once ubiquitous in the U.S. firearms marketplace has started to vanish for a variety of reasons.”
Another paragraph stated,
The family of AK-47-type rifles, which have appeared in nearly every conflict zone since their proliferation in the mid-20th century, is perhaps the most recognizable firearm silhouette in history. But civilian versions — once ubiquitous — are disappearing from shelves in the United States.
The article noted that there are companies working to “maintain the rifle’s status in American gun culture.” The paper stated that the AK “would become the rifle of choice for insurgencies and many American gun enthusiasts.”
A caption to one of the photos in the article said of the AK, “the guns were cheap, plentiful and everywhere on the civilian market.”
The use of language like “ubiquitous,” “the rifle of choice for… many American gun enthusiasts,” and “everywhere on the civilian market” would appear to describe a firearm “in common use.”
The Times joins the Washington Post in acknowledging that so-called “assault weapons” are common.
In 2023, the Post ran a series of articles under the heading “AMERICAN ICON: The gun that divides a nation.” The paper’s investigation revealed that “roughly 16 million people” own some “20 million” AR-15s in the United States. Or, as the authors noted even more dramatically, “1 in 20 U.S. adults owns at least one AR-15.”
Again and again, the Post’s writers went out of their way to underscore the immense popularity of the AR-15. It was described as “iconic,” “revered, and “truly mainstream.” It was said to hold a “dominant place in the United States’ marketplace” and to be an “off-the-shelf best-seller.”
In the unanimous Supreme Court decision in Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos (2025), the justices recognized, “[t]he AR–15 is the most popular rifle in the country.” That decision was written by Barack Obama appointee Justice Elena Kagan.
With states openly flouting the clear command of the Second Amendment and the Heller decision to enact bans on what all but the most obstinate gun control zealot would acknowledge are arms “in common use,” the Court has the opportunity to defend its own precedent and protect Americans’ fundamental right to keep and bear arms by prohibiting such bans.
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