Nine Years After Las Vegas Route 91 Shooting, Everytown, Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action Urge United States Supreme Court to Uphold State and Local Bans on Assault Weapons

NEVADA – Everytown for Gun Safety and its grassroots networks, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, released the following statements in honor of the nine-year mark of the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017, in which a shooter killed 60 people and wounded over 400 others. The tragedy remains the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.

Today serves as a stark reminder of what is at stake as the United States Supreme Court prepares to hear consolidated challenges to state and local restrictions on assault weapons in Viramontes v. Cook County and Grant v. Higgins. If the High Court strikes down these life-saving laws, it will strip away state and local leaders’ ability to protect their communities, help future mass shooters arm themselves with weapons of war, and put law enforcement officers directly in harm’s way.

“When a rain of gunfire started, my sister laid her body directly on top of mine to save my life. In an instant, a night meant for music and laughter became an endless nightmare of trauma and bloodshed,” said Geena Springmann, Everytown Survivor Fellow and survivor of the Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting. “The gunman was able to inflict unmatched devastation because he was armed with assault weapons – a horrific thread that connects Route 91 to countless other mass shootings in this country. If the Supreme Court guts these laws, it will be handing future mass shooters the ultimate weapon of destruction.”

“Nine years ago, a single shooter armed with assault weapons turned a night of music into the deadliest mass shooting in American history,” said Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of Moms Demand Action. “What happened at Route 91 makes it tragically clear: weapons designed for the battlefield have no place on our streets. As the Supreme Court considers these critical cases, we urge the Justices to put public safety ahead of gun industry greed.”

“Nine years ago today, our Las Vegas community was forever changed when a gunman armed with military-style assault weapons stole 60 precious lives and wounded hundreds more in a matter of minutes. As a pastor, I know that grief does not simply vanish with time – the heartbreak and trauma of that night remain deeply woven into the fabric of our city, our congregations, and our families,” said Rev. Dr. Mari Larson, pastor at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Las Vegas. “The High Court faces a fundamental choice: uphold the sacred duty to protect public safety, or allow gun industry profits to put weapons of war into the hands of mass killers. I pray and urge the Supreme Court to choose human lives over corporate profits and keep these deadly weapons of war off our streets.”

Assault weapons are military-style firearms designed for the battlefield to inflict maximum damage on the human body in the shortest amount of time. They are the weapons of choice for many mass shooters, they cause massive devastation, and they do not belong in the hands of civilians or in our neighborhoods, in our classrooms, or places of worship.

The presence of an assault weapon is a force-multiplier in lives taken. From 2016 to 2025, every single one of the ten highest-casualty mass shooting incidents in the United States involved both an assault weapon and a large-capacity magazine. In mass shootings, four times as many people are shot when an assault weapon or high-capacity magazine is involved compared with incidents involving neither.  Research demonstrates that maintaining federal assault weapon restrictions from 2005 through 2022 could have prevented an estimated 38 public mass shootings. 

Volunteers nationwide with Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action are urging the United States Supreme Court to keep these weapons of war off our streets. The High Court will hear oral arguments in this case on December 2, 2026, and will issue a decision by next summer.

To speak with an expert or survivor, please contact [email protected].

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