Procedural challenges of Illinois’ gun ban not as successful as other
arguments
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[February 07, 2023]
By Greg Bishop | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – While state-level courts have sided with the equal
protections argument in challenges to Illinois’ gun ban, there are other
issues some hope get addressed soon.
The main issue courts have been citing for issuing temporary restraining
orders against the state’s gun and magazine ban have dealt with equal
protections. The argument is that the state cannot give one class of
individuals, like current or retired police officers, certain rights
while taking those same rights away from others.
Illinois’ new ban on more than 170 types of semi-automatic handguns and
rifles and magazines of certain capacities doesn’t impact several
categories of individuals, like retired and active police and others in
the law enforcement and security sectors.
There are other issues state Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur, is hoping to
get addressed in his litigation, and that’s how legislation at the
Illinois statehouse seems to circumvent procedural rules.
Caulkins and others argue passage of the state’s gun ban violated the
single-subject rule, didn’t properly have three readings and didn’t give
the public due process considerations. Courts have either said those
arguments don’t have merit, or do have merit but are not being
considered at the moment.
“Nobody's had the guts to hear that. This is a problem,” Caulkins said.
“We have the constitution, this is the process we should be going
through. It gets violated, not just in this case, but in the SAFE-T Act
and the budget. “It goes on and on and on.”
Caulkins said the courts have to address this at some point so the
public gets an entire airing of legislation with three public readings,
for example.
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Illinois state Rep. Chris Miller,
R-Oakland, state Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur, and Perry Lewin,
owner of Decatur Jewelry and Pawn, Friday in Decatur.
Greg Bishop / The Center Square
“This is how it’s supposed to be done,” Caulkins said. “But because of
the tyranny of the majority, they just in the dead of night will lay a
bill on the desk and then an hour later we have to vote on it and the
people of Illinois get no say.”
Caulkins is awaiting a Macon County judge ruling on a temporary
restraining order against the state’s gun ban. A TRO is expected after
an appellate court upheld a TRO out of Effingham County on equal
protections grounds.
Attorney Thomas DeVore is also arguing procedural issues in several
cases he’s brought, including that Effingham County case. DeVore has
filed for subpoenas to get communications from legislative leaders and
the governor to further put on the record the process of how the law
came together in the final hours of the lame-duck session that ended
last month.
There are other arguments pending in federal court challenges of
Illinois’ gun ban. Those include arguments the ban violates citizens'
Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms and the Fifth Amendment
right to not incriminate yourself by having to register what lawmakers
defined as banned “assault weapons.”
In the federal case Harrel et al v. Raoul et al brought in part by the
Illinois State Rifle Association, a judge issued an order granting a
motion for the Illinois State Police as defendants to extend the
deadline for a response to the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary
injunction. That deadline is now due before March 1.
Greg Bishop reports on Illinois government and other
issues for The Center Square. Bishop has years of award-winning
broadcast experience and hosts the WMAY Morning Newsfeed out of
Springfield. |