Illinois has until Wednesday to respond to gun ban challenge in U.S.
Supreme Court
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[December 04, 2023]
By Greg Bishop | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – The state of Illinois and the city of Naperville
have until Wednesday to respond to the U.S. Supreme Court as to why a
preliminary injunction against the state’s gun and magazine ban
shouldn’t be issued.
Months before lawsuits were filed against the state’s gun ban that was
enacted on Jan. 10 of this year, Robert Bevis of Law Weapons out of
Naperville sued the city over its gun ban in the fall of 2022. He
amended his complaint to include Illinois’ after the state enacted its
ban.
After the federal appeals court sided with the gun bans, Bevis was
successful in getting U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett to
docket his challenge Thursday.
“It’s just so egregious,” Bevis told The Center Square. “You go through
it and they are literally slapping the Supreme Court right in the face.”
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The defendants have until Dec. 6 to respond. Bevis is hopeful for a
preliminary injunction as his business is struggling.
“Right now we are really living on life support, pretty much, and we
need some relief so that we can at least try and rebuild,” Bevis said.
The motion for a preliminary injunction in front of the U.S. Supreme
Court lays out why plaintiffs feel two of the three-judge panel of the
Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals got it wrong in siding with the
gun bans.
Plaintiffs said the majority of the three-judge panel incorrectly held
that banned firearms are not arms, that the common use test is faulty,
that the court misinterpreted recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent from
New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, that the court’s
decision “rests on stealth interest balancing,” and that an arm may be
banned “because it is similar to a weapon formerly used by the
military.”
“In summary, the Seventh Circuit’s decision was manifestly erroneous. In
the meantime, Plaintiffs and hundreds of thousands of law-abiding
Illinois citizens are suffering irreparable injury because their
fundamental right to keep and bear arms is being infringed,” the
plaintiffs argue. “Accordingly, Plaintiffs respectfully urge you to take
up this case and grant the requested injunctive relief.”
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Representing Bevis, National Foundation for Gun Rights Executive
Director Hannah Hill said Barrett could on her own issue a temporary
injunction.
“So basically we’re asking that the Supreme Court suspend the
enforcement of that law until the case is decided,” Hill told The Center
Square.
Barrett could also ask the entire court to consider a preliminary
injunction, or the court could do nothing while the case plays out.
Bevis had asked for the Supreme Court to intervene before, but that was
before the appeals court ruled. Now that the appeals court has ruled,
and a request for the entire appeals court to review rather than just a
three-judge panel isn’t guaranteed, Hill is encouraged Barrett has taken
notice.
“The fact that she’s asked for a briefing, that she’s turned to Illinois
and Naperville and said ‘now give me your best arguments for why we
should not grant this relief,’” Hill said. “That’s hugely encouraging.”
Other challenges against Illinois’ gun law remain in federal district
and appeals courts.
Of Illinois' 2.4 million Firearm Owners ID card holders, the latest
Illinois State Police data shows just 0.2% have registered a banned
item. There are 30 days left before the Jan. 1 deadline to register
banned items or criminal penalties could apply, pending any possible
court injunction against the deadline.
Meanwhile, across the country in California, Illinois Attorney General
Kwame Raoul is siding with that state’s ban on magazines over certain
capacities with an amicus brief in the case Duncan v. Bonta.
“States like Illinois should be able to protect residents and
communities by passing laws prohibiting the possession and sale of
large-capacity magazines,” Raoul said. “I will continue to collaborate
with fellow attorneys general who prioritize public safety by
restricting access to large-capacity magazines.”
A California district court issued a preliminary injunction against that
state’s magazine ban. That case is now in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court
of Appeals.
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