Amicus Curiae Brief — Cutberto Viramontes, et al., Petitioners v. Cook County, Illinois, et al.

Nos. 25-238, 25-566

───────────────────────────

In the

Supreme Court of the United States

──────────────────────────

CUTBERTO VIRAMONTES, ET AL.,

Petitioners,

v.

COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS, ET AL.,

Respondents.

──────────────────────────

EDDIE GRANT, JR., ET AL.,

Petitioners,

v.

RONNELL HIGGINS, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS

COMMISSIONER OF THE CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF

EMERGENCY SERVICES AND PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, ET AL.,

Respondents.

──────────────────────────

ON WRITS OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES

COURTS OF APPEALS FOR THE SEVENTH AND

SECOND CIRCUITS

──────────────────────────

BRIEF FOR THE BUCKEYE INSTITUTE

AS AMICUS CURIAE SUPPORTING PETITIONERS

──────────────────────────

David C. Tryon

Counsel of Record

Alex M. Certo

THE BUCKEYE INSTITUTE

88 East Broad Street, Suite 1300

Columbus, OH 43215

(614) 224-4422

D.Tryon@BuckeyeInstitute.org

i

QUESTION PRESENTED

Whether the Second and Fourteenth Amendments

guarantee the right to possess AR-15 platform and

similar semiautomatic rifles.

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

QUESTION PRESENTED ............................................ i

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES........................................ iii

INTEREST OF AMICUS CURIAE ............................. 1

SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT............................. 2

ARGUMENT ................................................................. 2

I. Humans have long tried to improve their

weaponry for hunting and self-defense .............. 2

II. The history of “large-capacity magazines” dates

back 400 years....................................................... 4

A. Firearms invented in the Middle Ages

incorporated multi-shot capability ................ 4

B. In the 1800s, magazines grew in capacity .... 8

C. In the 1860s, detachable magazines were

invented ......................................................... 13

D. From the 1920s onward, magazine capacity

expanded ........................................................ 15

CONCLUSION ............................................................ 20

iii

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

Other Authorities

5, pt. 7 Joseph Needham et al., Science and

Civilization in China (1987) ..................................... 3

AR-15 30 Rd .223/5.56 Stainless Steel Magazine,

Ammunition Storage Components,

https://www.ammosc.com/ar-15-30-rd-223-5-56stainless-steel-magazine (last visited Sep. 3,

2026) ......................................................................... 17

AR-15 Custom Wood Furniture, Angle of Attack

Arms, https://www.angleofattackarms.com/productpage/ar-15-custom-wood-furniture (last visited Sep.

3, 2026) ..................................................................... 18

Blakeslee cartridge box, Smithsonian Inst.,

civilwar.si.edu/weapons_blakeslee.html (last

visited Sep. 3, 2026)................................................. 12

Brent Wheat, Everything You Wanted to Know About

AR-15 Magazines (But Were too Afraid to Ask),

Guns Magazine, gunsmagazine.com/ourexperts/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-ar15-magazines/ (last visited Sep. 3, 2026) .............. 16

Clayton E. Cramer & Joseph Edward Olson, Pistols,

Crime, and Public: Safety in Early America, 44

Willamette L. Rev. 699 (2008) .............................. 5, 6

David B. Kopel, The History of Firearm Magazines

and Magazine Prohibitions, 78 Alb. L. Rev. 849

(2015) ........................................................................ 15

iv

David B. Kopel, Firearms Technology and the

Original Meaning of the Second Amendment,

Found. for Econ. Educ. (Apr. 6, 2017),

fee.org/articles/firearms-technology-and-theoriginal-meaning-of-the-second-amendment/ ......... 4

Frank Iannamico, Design and Development of the

U.S. Carbine Thirty-Round Magazine, Small Arms

Review (Aug. 1, 2005),

smallarmsreview.com/design-and-development-ofthe-u-s-carbine-thirty-round-magazine/ .......... 15, 16

Frederick C. Bakewell, Great Facts: A Popular

History and Description of the Most Remarkable

Inventions During the Present Century (1859) ........ 8

Frederick J. Chiaventone, The Girandoni Air Rifle:

The Lewis and Clark Expedition’s Secret Weapon,

Warfare History Network (Jan. 2013),

warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/lewis-andclarks-girandoni-air-rifle/ ......................................... 7

Guy J. Sagi, Ruger Mini-14: A Garand-Inspired

Carbine, Am. Rifleman (Jan. 5, 2022),

www.americanrifleman.org/content/ruger-mini-14a-garand-inspired-carbine/ ............................... 19, 20

Harold Williamson, Winchester: The Gun that Won

the West (1952) ..................................................... 9, 11

Heckler & Koch MR556 A4 5.56MM 16.5″ Barrel 1 30

Round Magazine Black, Midwest Shooting Indoor

Range,

https://midwestshootingsupply.com/product/heckler

-koch-mr556-a4-5-56mm-16-5-barrel-1-30-roundmagazine-black-81000827/ (last visited Sep. 3,

2026) ......................................................................... 18

v

Ignition Systems, Nat’l Inst. of Just., nij.ojp.gov/nijhosted-online-training-courses/firearms-examinertraining/module-03/ignition-systems (last visited

Sep. 3, 2026) ............................................................... 5

J. Elliot, A Sweeping History of the Mauser C96

Broomhandle Pistol, Guns.com (Jan. 26, 2012),

https://web.archive.org/web/20200924043450/https:

//www.guns.com/news/2012/01/26/a-sweepinghistory-of-the-mauser-c96-broomhandle-pistol/.... 14

Jack Dunlap, American British & Continental

Pepperbox Firearms (1964) ....................................... 8

Jason Mosher, AR-15 Mags: Why So Many Capacity

Options?, GunMag Warehouse (Apr. 17, 2023),

https://gunmagwarehouse.com/blog/ar-15-magswhy-so-many-capacity-options/ .............................. 17

Jim Supica et al., Treasures of the NRA National

Firearms Museum (2013) ...................................... 7, 8

John Sammon, The Case for Caselessness: the

Volcanic Rifle, Guns.com (Apr. 19, 2011),

https://www.guns.com/news/2011/04/19/the-casefor-caselessness-the-volcanic-rifle .......................... 10

John W. Breathed Jr. & Joseph J. Schroeder Jr.,

System Mauser: A Pictorial History of the Model

1896 Self-Loading Pistol (1967) ............................. 13

John Plaster, The History of Sniping and

Sharpshooting (2008) ................................................ 7

Jonathan Ferguson, The Antique Arms Fair at

Olympia London (2018)............................................. 8

vi

Kevin Sweeney, In Search of Repeating Firearms

in Eighteenth-Century America, Duke Center

for Firearms Law (July 26, 2023),

firearmslaw.duke.edu/2023/07/in-search-ofrepeating-firearms-in-eighteenth-centuryamerica ....................................................................... 7

Lindsay Schakenbach Regele, Industrial Manifest

Destiny: American Firearms Manufacturing and

Antebellum Expansion, 92 Bus. Hist. Rev. 57

(2018) .......................................................................... 9

Mike Venturino, The M2 Carbine, Guns Magazine

(2020), https://gunsmagazine.com/our-experts/them2-carbine/ ............................................................... 16

Mike Venturino, Plains War Spencers, Guns

Magazine (2019),

https://gunsmagazine.com/guns/rifles/plains-warspencers/ ................................................................... 12

Nicholas J. Johnson, David B Kopel, George A.

Mocsary, E. Gregory Wallace & Donald

Kilmer, Firearms Law and the Second

Amendment: Regulation, Rights, and Policy

(3rd ed. 2022) .........................................10, 11, 13, 14

Norm Flayderman, Flayderman’s Guide to

Antique American Firearms and their Values

(9th ed. 2007) ............................................................. 8

NRA, 16-Shot Wheel Lock, Am. 1st Freedom (May 10,

2014), www.americas1stfreedom.org/content/16shot-wheel-lock/ ......................................................... 4

vii

Peter Turchin et al., Rise of the war machines:

Charting the evolution of military technologies from

the Neolithic to the Industrial Revolution, 16 PLOS

ONE e0258161 (2021) ............................................... 2

R. L. Wilson, The Winchester: An American Legend

(1991) ........................................................................ 11

Rick Hacker, Ruger Mini-14, Shooting Illustrated

(Apr. 1, 2011),

www.shootingillustrated.com/content/ruger-mini14/ ........................................................................ 19, 20

shooter1721, Revolutionary Girardoni Air Rifle: A

Historic Demonstration of the 18th Century Weapon

(YouTube, June 7, 2024),

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtLRhTd9YrE ........... 8

Snaphance six-shot revolver - Self-rotating possibly by

John Dafte - about 1660-1670, Royal Armouries,

https://royalarmouries.org/collection/object/object1534 (last visited Sep. 3, 2026) ................................. 9

Stephen C. George, From Stone Tools to Guns: A

Timeline of Ancient Weapons, Discover (Dec. 7,

2023), https://tinyurl.com/mr2v3zha ........................ 3

Stephen G. Haw, The Mongol Empire—the first

‘gunpowder empire’?, 23 J. Royal Asiatic Soc. 441

(2013) .......................................................................... 3

T. Logan Metesh, Volcanic Pistol: The First

Repeating Pistol—And A Failure (June 8, 2023),

freerangeamerican.us/volcanic-pistol/ ................... 10

viii

Talyn, The “Puckle Defense Gun” - The First

Machine Gun?, The Armory Life: Forum (Jan. 17,

2026),

www.athearmorylife.com/forum/threads/thepuckle-defense-gun-the-first-machine-gun.25008/ . 6

The Mauser C96 M1916 “Red 9”, Wikipedia,

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/C96#/media/File:

Mauser_C96_M1916_Red_9.JPG (last visited Aug.

21, 2026) ................................................................... 14

Tonio Andrade, The Gunpowder Age: China, Military

Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World

History (2016)............................................................. 3

Vernard Foley et al., Leonardo, the Wheel Lock, and

the Milling Process, 24 Tech. and Culture 399

(1983) ...................................................................... 4, 5

Yonatan Sahle et al., Earliest Stone-Tipped

Projectiles from the Ethiopian Rift Date to >279,000

Years Ago, 8 PLOS ONE e78092 (2013) .................. 2

1

INTEREST OF AMICUS CURIAE1

The Buckeye Institute was founded in 1989 as an

independent research and educational institution—a

think tank—to formulate and promote free-market

policy in the states. The Buckeye Institute

accomplishes its mission by performing timely and

reliable research on key issues, compiling and

synthesizing data, formulating free-market policies,

and

marketing

those

policy

solutions

for

implementation in Ohio and replication across the

country. The Buckeye Institute also files lawsuits and

submits amicus briefs to fulfill its mission. The

Buckeye Institute is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, taxexempt organization, as defined by I.R.C. section

501(c)(3).

The Buckeye Institute regularly weighs in on

Second Amendment issues as part of its mission to

protect Americans’ constitutional rights. It has

submitted various amicus briefs to this Court in

Second Amendment cases. See Brief of Amicus Curiae

The Buckeye Institute, New York State Rifle & Pistol

Ass’n, Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022) (No. 20-843);

Amicus Curiae Brief of The Buckeye Institute,

Wolford v. Lopez, 146 S. Ct. 2032 (2026) (24-1046). It

also brings cases in state courts. Doe v. Columbus, The

Buckeye

Institute,

https://www.buckeyeinstitute.org/issues/detail/doe-vcolumbus (last visited Sep. 3, 2026) (discussing

1 As required by Supreme Court Rule 37.6, no counsel for any party

authored this brief in whole or in part and no entity or person,

aside from amicus curiae made any monetary contribution toward

the preparation or submission of this brief.

2

challenge to Columbus, Ohio’s ban on 30-round

magazines). This practice has built The Buckeye

Institute’s reputation in firearms law.

SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT

Although this case is only about semi-automatic

firearms and not the detachable magazines that feed

them, the history of these magazines can play an

important role in the historical analysis. This brief

provides background on the history and development

of detachable and non-detachable magazines in

various capacities. Despite the common perception

that firearms and magazines capable of holding

multiple rounds are a new contrivance, they are

nothing new. They have been around for decades, and

even centuries, in various formats.

ARGUMENT

I.

Humans have long tried to improve their

weaponry for hunting and self-defense.

From the beginning of known history, humans

have used weapons for hunting and self-defense. See

Yonatan Sahle et al., Earliest Stone-Tipped Projectiles

from the Ethiopian Rift Date to >279,000 Years Ago, 8

PLOS ONE e78092 (2013). And humans have

consistently developed more effective weapons. See

Peter Turchin et al., Rise of the war machines:

Charting the evolution of military technologies from

the Neolithic to the Industrial Revolution, 16 PLOS

ONE e0258161 (2021). Humans needed to master

weapon-making because “[l]acking the raw strength,

sharp teeth, and claws of other hunters in the animal

kingdom, humanity’s ascent as a species depended in

large part upon our ability to invent more effective

3

ways to kill things.” Stephen C. George, From Stone

Tools to Guns: A Timeline of Ancient Weapons,

Discover (Dec. 7, 2023), https://tinyurl.com/mr2v3zha.

Weapon development enabled us to outcompete other

species and made us better at defending ourselves as

disputes arose over territory, resources, and other

considerations. Id. Our species moved from hands and

feet as weapons to spears, slings, bows and arrows,

and then swords and other edged weapons. Id. We

have always improved our weaponry, oftentimes for

self-preservation.

Technology has never been static. We have

continuously improved our tools, including making

them more efficient. Whether quills to hold multiple

arrows or mechanisms to feed multiple bullets, the

motivation is the same—to preserve life. And our need

for individual self-preservation continues to this day.

Firearms have existed for so long that scholars

cannot establish a precise date for their invention.

Depending on the definition of a “firearm,” historians

point anywhere between the 10th and 13th centuries.

See Tonio Andrade, The Gunpowder Age: China,

Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World

History 51–55 (2016) (describing the difficulty

distinguishing between “gunpowder weapons” and

“true guns”); see also 5, pt. 7 Joseph Needham et al.,

Science and Civilization in China 63 (1987)

(describing the first use of gunpowder weapons “in

about 920”); but see Stephen G. Haw, The Mongol

Empire—the first ‘gunpowder empire’?, 23 J. Royal

Asiatic Soc. 441, 441–42 (2013) (noting that “true

guns” had existed by the early 1200s). Since then, we

have continued the tradition of improving them.

4

II. The history of “large-capacity magazines”

dates back 400 years.

Opponents of Second Amendment rights argue for

restricting the Amendment’s scope by emphasizing

that firearms today are radically more dangerous than

those at the time of the Founding, often conjuring

images of clunky, single-shot muskets that had to be

reloaded after every firing. This assertion is not true:

It reflects ignorance of the history of firearm

development. In 1791, although handguns and singleshot rifles were the most common firearms (largely

because of their affordability to the average

American), multi-shot and repeating firearms had

long existed and were widely available. See David B.

Kopel, Firearms Technology and the Original Meaning

of the Second Amendment, Found. for Econ. Educ.

(Apr. 6, 2017), fee.org/articles/firearms-technologyand-the-original-meaning-of-the-second-amendment/.

A. Firearms invented in the Middle Ages

incorporated multi-shot capability.

Amazingly, before 1600 a creative German

gunsmith invented a 16-shot Wheel Lock firearm,

using “superposed” loads (each round stacked on top

of the other). NRA, 16-Shot Wheel Lock, Am. 1st

Freedom

(May

10,

2014),

www.americas1stfreedom.org/content/16-shot-wheellock/. Others contend that the technology dates back

earlier, belonging to Leonardo daVinci (1452–1519).

Vernard Foley et al., Leonardo, the Wheel Lock, and

the Milling Process, 24 Tech. and Culture 399, 399–

400 (1983). Regardless, it incorporated a serrated steel

wheel, linked by chain to a strong V-spring, which

wound until a sear locked it cocked. Id. at 401. Pulling

5

the trigger released the sear, spinning the wheel while

pressing pyrite against it, creating sparks in a way

resembling a “cigarette lighter.” Id. at 401–02. The

sparks ignited powder, propelling bullets out of the

barrel one at a time in succession. Id.

While it was an anomaly for its time, “the wheel

lock inspired future development that overcame cost

and complexity issues and continued the improvement

of firearms.” Ignition Systems, Nat’l Inst. of Just.,

nij.ojp.gov/nij-hosted-online-trainingcourses/firearms-examiner-training/module03/ignition-systems (last visited Sep. 3, 2026).

1578 Wheel Lock pistol2

Other magazine-fed repeating firearms appeared

soon after. Clayton E. Cramer & Joseph Edward

Olson, Pistols, Crime, and Public: Safety in Early

America, 44 Willamette L. Rev. 699, 716 (2008).

British soldiers were issued magazine-fed repeating

Hunting Pistol, Cleveland Musuem of Art,

www.clevelandart.org/art/1916.672 (last visited Sep. 3, 2026).

2 Wheel-Lock

6

firearms as early as 1658, and evidence indicates

multibarrel handguns were in development around

the same time. Id. By the end of the 1800s, concealable

“pepperbox” handguns, capable of firing five to seven

shots without reloading, were in circulation. Id.

The “Puckle Defense Gun” was another early

design. Patented in 1718 by English lawyer and

inventor James Puckle, it could fire six to eleven

rounds. Talyn, The “Puckle Defense Gun” - The First

Machine Gun?, The Armory Life: Forum (Jan. 17,

2026), www.athearmorylife.com/forum/threads/thepuckle-defense-gun-the-first-machine-gun.25008/. It

used preloaded cylinders; each cylinder was fired one

at a time. Id.

Patent No. 418 for “Puckle Defense Gun” 3

3 Talyn, The “Puckle Defense Gun” - The First Machine Gun?, The

Armory

Life:

Forum

(Jan.

17,

2026),

www.athearmorylife.com/forum/threads/the-puckle-defense-gunthe-first-machine-gun.25008/.

7

Firearms with similar shooting capacities were

soon in America. The earliest evidence comes from the

Boston News-Letter in 1723, which reported

“[d]elegates from several Nations of Indians were

Entertained with the sight of a Gun which has but one

Barrel and one Lock,” but fired “Eleven Bullets

successively in about Two Minutes” after being loaded

only once. Kevin Sweeney, In Search of Repeating

Firearms in Eighteenth-Century America, Duke

Center for Firearms Law (July 26, 2023),

firearmslaw.duke.edu/2023/07/in-search-of-repeatingfirearms-in-eighteenth-century-america. In 1730, the

New-England Weekly Journal notified Boston

residents that they could witness “a gun that could fire

a succession of twenty projectiles ‘at once Loading.’”

Id.

By the time the Second Amendment was ratified,

the state-of-the-art multi-shot firearm was the

Girandoni (also spelled “Girardoni”) air rifle with a 22shot magazine capacity. Frederick J. Chiaventone, The

Girandoni Air Rifle: The Lewis and Clark Expedition’s

Secret Weapon, Warfare History Network (Jan. 2013),

warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/lewis-and-clarksgirandoni-air-rifle/. Meriwether Lewis carried a

Girandoni on the Lewis and Clark expedition. Id. At

the time, air rifles were ballistically equal to powder

guns in bullet size and velocity. John Plaster, The

History of Sniping and Sharpshooting 69–70 (2008).

The .46- and .49-caliber Girandoni air rifles were

invented around 1779 for use in European armies and

were employed by elite units. Jim Supica et al.,

Treasures of the NRA National Firearms Museum 31

(2013). It was powerful enough to penetrate a one-

8

inch-thick wooden plank4 or take down an elk with a

single shot. Id.

B. In the 1800s, magazines grew in capacity.

By the turn of the 19th century, advancements in

firearms accelerated. In 1821, the Jennings multi-shot

flintlock rifle could fire 12 rounds without reloading.

Norm Flayderman, Flayderman’s Guide to Antique

American Firearms and their Values 683 (9th ed.

2007). Pepperbox pistols appeared in the 1830s and

found commercial success, with some models capable

of firing up to 24 shots. Jack Dunlap, American British

& Continental Pepperbox Firearms 16 (1964).

Meanwhile, revolvers arrived. Although Samuel

Colt receives credit for patenting the first six-shot

revolver, he drew inspiration from a firearm he

discovered in the armory of the Tower of London.

Frederick C. Bakewell, Great Facts: A Popular History

and Description of the Most Remarkable Inventions

During the Present Century 266–269 (1859). That

model was estimated “to have been made as early as

the fifteenth century, which very closely resembles, in

the principle of its construction, the Revolver of the

present day.” Id. at 268. Other revolver designs were

well documented over a century before Colt’s arrived

on the market. See Jonathan Ferguson, The Antique

Arms Fair at Olympia London 33–34 (2018)

4 See a video of the Girandoni penetrating wooden planks at 50 and

100 yards here: shooter1721, Revolutionary Girardoni Air Rifle: A

Historic Demonstration of the 18th Century Weapon, at 00:13:58–

00:18:05

(YouTube,

June

7,

2024),

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtLRhTd9YrE.

9

(describing an early self-rotating revolver from around

1680).

A self-rotating revolver from around

1660–16705

Still, Colt’s design brought the revolver commercial

success and widespread use never before seen. Its use

in the Mexican-American War (1846–1848) made it

popular among western settlers, and Colt’s sales and

marketing skill accelerated demand for it nationwide

and overseas. Lindsay Schakenbach Regele,

Industrial Manifest Destiny: American Firearms

Manufacturing and Antebellum Expansion, 92 Bus.

Hist. Rev. 57, 78–79 (2018). Some of Colt’s revolvers

fired “more than ten rounds in a minute.” Id. at 72.

In 1855, Daniel Wesson and Oliver Winchester

invented a lever-action rifle that fired newly invented

metallic cartridges. Harold Williamson, Winchester:

The Gun that Won the West 26–27 (1952). Their first

5 Snaphance six-shot revolver - Self-rotating possibly by John Dafte

about

1660-1670,

Royal

Armouries,

https://royalarmouries.org/collection/object/object-1534

(last

visited Sep. 3, 2026).

10

model, the Volcanic Rifle, operated with a 30-round

tubular magazine. Nicholas J. Johnson, David B

Kopel, George A. Mocsary, E. Gregory Wallace &

Donald Kilmer, Firearms Law and the Second

Amendment: Regulation, Rights, and Policy 437 (3rd

ed. 2022) (Firearms Law). Cartridges were stored endto-end in a tube under the barrel, fed into the chamber

with a spring. John Sammon, The Case for

Caselessness: the Volcanic Rifle, Guns.com (Apr. 19,

2011),

https://www.guns.com/news/2011/04/19/thecase-for-caselessness-the-volcanic-rifle.

Volcanic firearm and its tubular magazine6

6 T. Logan Metesh, Volcanic Pistol: The First Repeating Pistol—

And A Failure (June 8, 2023), freerangeamerican.us/volcanicpistol/.

11

Despite its “reliability problems,” advertisements

highlighted its ability to be loaded and to fire 30 shots

in under a minute. Williamson, supra, at 25. In 1861,

the rifle evolved into the 16-shot Henry Rifle—a “big

success” commercially. Firearms Law, supra, at 437.

In 1862, the Henry was tested at the Washington Navy

Yard, where it fired 15 shots in 10.8 seconds. R. L.

Wilson, The Winchester: An American Legend 11

(1991). Soon after, the Winchester Model 1866 was

firing 18 shots without reloading. Firearms Law,

supra, at 437.

Diagram of the Spencer Repeating Rifle,

designed in 1860, showing a tubular

magazine housed in the stock of the

rifle.7

The early 1800s not only saw improvements in

firing capacity, but they also saw improvements in

reloading time. Devices known as speedloaders, which

were used to insert multiple rounds into a magazine

at once, saving time and effort, had existed in the 18th

Century. By the Civil War, tubular speedloaders were

File:Spencer rifle diagram.png, Wikimedia Commons,

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spencer_rifle_diagram.p

ng (last visited Sep. 3, 2026).

7

12

commonly bought alongside firearms with tubular

magazines. A popular pair during the Civil War was

the Spencer repeating rifle, designed in 1860, and the

Blakeslee cartridge box, a carrying case that held up

to 13 speedloaders for riflemen to quickly reload by

pouring rounds into the butt of the rifle. Blakeslee

cartridge

box,

Smithsonian

Inst.,

civilwar.si.edu/weapons_blakeslee.html (last visited

Sep. 3, 2026).

A Blakeslee cartridge box (left)8 and

demonstration of reloading the Spencer

rifle with a speedloader (right)9

Blakeslee

cartridge

box,

Smithsonian

Inst.,

civilwar.si.edu/weapons_blakeslee.html (last visited Sep. 3, 2026).

8

9 Mike Venturino, Plains War Spencers, Guns Magazine (2019),

https://gunsmagazine.com/guns/rifles/plains-war-spencers/.

13

C. In the 1860s, detachable magazines were

invented.

The first handgun to use a detachable magazine

was the Jarre harmonica pistol, patented in 1862.

Firearms Law, supra, at 498.

An early Jarre harmonica pistol10

The first handgun with a box magazine to become

a major commercial success was from the German

company Mauser. Firearms law, supra, at 498. Its

1896 “broomhandle” model C96 was a semi-automatic

pistol with a 10-round standard magazine and

optional magazine of as few as six or as many as 20

rounds. John W. Breathed Jr. & Joseph J. Schroeder

Jr., System Mauser: A Pictorial History of the Model

1896 Self-Loading Pistol 272 (1967); see also J. Elliot,

Rare Jarre 10-Shot Pinfire Harmonica Pistol, Rock Island

Auction Co., www.rockislandauction.com/detail/62/1319/rarejarre-10shot-pinfire-harmonica-pistol (last visited Aug. 21, 2026).

10

14

A Sweeping History of the Mauser C96 Broomhandle

Pistol,

Guns.com

(Jan.

26,

2012),

https://web.archive.org/web/20200924043450/https://

www.guns.com/news/2012/01/26/a-sweeping-historyof-the-mauser-c96-broomhandle-pistol/.

Mauser C9611

Box magazines soon became common for rifles and

handguns. Firearms Law, supra, at 498.

The

Mauser

C96

M1916 “Red

9”,

Wikipedia,

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/C96#/media/File:Mauser_C96_

M1916_Red_9.JPG (last visited Aug. 21, 2026).

11

15

D. From the 1920s

capacity expanded.

onward,

magazine

The proliferation of 30-round magazines in the

United States began in earnest in 1927 with the AutoOrdnance Company’s introduction of a semiautomatic

rifle engineered to accept detachable 30-round

magazines. David B. Kopel, The History of Firearm

Magazines and Magazine Prohibitions, 78 Alb. L. Rev.

849, 858–59 (2015). This commercial step built upon

earlier American traditions, including 19th-century

lever-action rifles whose tubular magazines

frequently held up to 30 rounds. Later decades saw the

design expand with commercial variants like the M1

and M2 Carbines. Frank Iannamico, Design and

Development of the U.S. Carbine Thirty-Round

Magazine, Small Arms Review (Aug. 1, 2005),

smallarmsreview.com/design-and-development-ofthe-u-s-carbine-thirty-round-magazine/.

The M1 Carbine, standardized by the U.S. Army on

October 22, 1941, and first issued to troops in mid1942, was a lightweight semi-automatic firearm. Id. It

initially used a detachable box magazine holding 15

rounds, but a 30-round magazine was adopted within

a few years. Id. In late 1944, curved 30-round

magazines were developed and widely issued. Id. In

the decade following the end of WWII, M1 Carbines

became popular items on the civilian market. Leroy

Thompson, The M1 Carbine, pp.72–73 (2011). In fact,

“The M1 Carbine proved so popular with civilians and

law-enforcement personnel in the USA that there were

not enough military-surplus carbines available to

satisfy the market. As a result, various commercial

16

manufacturers began producing the M1 Carbine” as

early as 1956. Id.

M1 Carbine (top); M1A1 Carbine

(middle); M2 Carbine with curved 30round magazine (bottom)12

Pertinent to the case before the Court, the AR-15

arrived in 1956. The original prototype held 25 rounds,

but 20-round magazines were standard on the market

at the time of its release; however, 30-round

magazines eventually became available. Brent Wheat,

Everything You Wanted to Know About AR-15

Magazines (But Were too Afraid to Ask), Guns

Magazine,

gunsmagazine.com/ourexperts/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-ar-15magazines/ (last visited Sep. 3, 2026). Today, just as

AR-15s are the most commonly owned rifle in

America, 30-round magazines are the most common

magazine to go along with the rifles. Jason Mosher,

12 Mike

Venturino, The M2 Carbine, Guns Magazine (2020),

https://gunsmagazine.com/our-experts/the-m2-carbine/.

17

AR-15 Mags: Why So Many Capacity Options?,

GunMag

Warehouse

(Apr.

17,

2023),

https://gunmagwarehouse.com/blog/ar-15-mags-whyso-many-capacity-options/.

A modern 30-round detachable

magazine13

13 AR-15 30 Rd .223/5.56 Stainless Steel Magazine,

Ammunition Storage Components, https://www.ammosc.com/ar15-30-rd-223-5-56-stainless-steel-magazine (last visited Sep. 3,

2026).

18

AR-15 with 30-round magazine inserted14

An AR-15 with wooden components15

14 Heckler & Koch MR556 A4 5.56MM 16.5″ Barrel 1 30 Round

Magazine

Black,

Midwest

Shooting

Indoor

Range,

https://midwestshootingsupply.com/product/heckler-koch-mr556a4-5-56mm-16-5-barrel-1-30-round-magazine-black-81000827/

(last visited Sep. 3, 2026).

15 AR-15 Custom Wood Furniture, Angle of Attack Arms,

https://www.angleofattackarms.com/product-page/ar-15-customwood-furniture (last visited Sep. 3, 2026).

19

Invented in 1964, the Ruger 10/22 is a popular rifle

for target shooting and hunting small game. With a

standard detachable magazine, it holds 10 rounds. But

it can hold up to 50 rounds.

Ruger 10/22 Rifles with and without

detachable magazines16

Sturm, Ruger & Co. introduced the Mini-14 Ranch

Rifle in 1973 and marketed it as a handy rifle for

ranchers and outdoorsmen. See Guy J. Sagi, Ruger

Mini-14: A Garand-Inspired Carbine, Am. Rifleman

(Jan.

5,

2022),

www.americanrifleman.org/content/ruger-mini-14-agarand-inspired-carbine/; Rick Hacker, Ruger Mini14,

Shooting

Illustrated

(Apr.

1,

2011),

www.shootingillustrated.com/content/ruger-mini-14/.

Ruger also produced ten- and twenty-round Mini-14

magazines—dropping the ten-round magazine in 1979

and the twenty-round magazine about ten years

later—then restored twenty-round factory magazines

16 Three Ruger 10/22 Semi-Automatic Rifles, Rock Island Auction

Company,

https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/2022/596/three-ruger1022-semiautomatic-rifles (last visited Sep. 3, 2026).

20

after the federal assault-weapons ban expired, in

jurisdictions where they remain lawful. See Hacker,

supra. Current Ranch Rifles typically leave the factory

with either 5- or 20-round magazines. See Sagi, supra.

A Ruger Mini-14 rifle17

Firearms of various shapes, sizes, and calibers

have been invented and improved to accept a similar

variety of detachable magazines.

CONCLUSION

Contrary to popular belief, detachable magazines

are nothing new. And 30-round magazines have

existed for many decades in various forms. The

public’s visceral reaction against them should not

influence the Court’s view of the legality of the AR15—the most popular rifle in America.

17 Guy J. Sagi, Ruger Mini-14: A Gardan-Inspired Carbine, Am.

Rifleman (Jan. 5, 2022),

www.americanrifleman.org/content/ruger-mini-14-a-garandinspired-carbine/.

21

Amicus urges the Court to reverse the judgments

below and hold that the Second Amendment protects

the right to possess AR-15s and similar semiautomatic firearms.

Respectfully submitted,

David C. Tryon

Counsel of Record

Alex M. Certo

THE BUCKEYE INSTITUTE

88 East Broad Street, Suite 1300

Columbus, OH 43215

(614) 224-4422

D.Tryon@BuckeyeInstitute.org

September 4, 2026