* The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals just upheld the state ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines…
In 2023, six months after a mass shooting at a Chicago suburb’s Independence Day parade left seven dead and dozens more wounded, Illinois enacted the Protect Illinois Communities Act. Among other things, the Act criminalizes the manufacture, sale, delivery, purchase, and possession of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines. A grandfather clause permits preexisting lawful own- ers of the regulated items to continue possessing them.
Plaintiffs across Illinois swiftly challenged the Act, suing state and local officials for declaratory and injunctive relief protecting their right to keep and bear arms. One federal court granted a preliminary injunction, two did not, and all three losing parties appealed. We consolidated their appeals and held in Bevis v. City of Naperville, 85 F.4th 1175 (7th Cir. 2023), that the plaintiffs were unlikely to succeed on the merits of their challenges
One of the consolidated cases in Bevis was Barnett v. Raoul, which itself was the lead case for a set of four similar challenges pending in the Southern District of Illinois. After building out the record following Bevis, the Barnett parties proceeded to a bench trial. In the end, the district court held that much of the Act violated the Second Amendment and that the offending provisions were not severable. The court therefore enjoined enforcement of the Act in its entirety. The defendants appealed.
For reasons that follow, we focus on the Act’s application to AR-15s and thirty-round rifle magazines. The Act’s restrictions on these items, we hold, are consistent with the principles that underpin our Nation’s tradition of firearm regulation. Whether to adopt them is thus a decision reposed in our elected representatives, and we reverse. […]
We REVERSE the judgments of the district court, and we REMAND the cases with directions to enter judgments for the defendants.
Go read the rest.
…Adding… Rep. Bob Morgan…
”Four years after the Highland Park mass shooting, today’s decision of the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed that the Illinois assault weapon ban (the “Protect Illinois Communities Act”) is constitutional. This is the highest court to rule on the merits of our law, but the ban on weapons of war, high capacity magazines and rapid-fire devices has already led to record lows of gun violence and mass shootings. As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to consider whether any assault weapon ban is allowed under the 2nd Amendment, this 7th Circuit ruling should guide the majority of the Supreme Court. We are saving lives in Illinois with our assault weapon ban, and will continue to pursue all options available to end the scourge of gun violence in our state.”
…Adding… Gov. Pritzker…
…Adding… Senate President Harmon…
This decision is a victory for common sense and community safety. These high-powered weapons of war have no place on our streets.
…Adding… AG Raoul…
“This is a win that enhances public safety in Illinois. We have seen the damage that assault weapons and large-capacity magazines can inflict, and these weapons of war have no place in our communities. My office has successfully defended the state’s prohibition on these weapons in both state and federal court, and I am immensely proud of the hardworking attorneys in my office who have worked diligently to preserve this critical public safety measure.”
