Briefs against Illinois’ gun ban filed in federal court as separate FOID
case heard in state court
Send a link to a friend
[June 21, 2023]
By Greg Bishop | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Lawsuits challenging Illinois’ gun laws are well
underway in state and federal courts with separate challenges to the
constitutionality of the recently enacted gun and magazine ban and the
decades old Firearm Owners Identification card.
In January, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law a ban on more than 170
semi-automatic rifles, shotguns and handguns. He also banned the sale
and possession of magazines with more than 15 rounds for handguns and 10
rounds for rifles.
Challenges in both the Southern and Northern district federal courts
resulted in different outcomes. The Southern District issued a
preliminary injunction against the state from enforcing the law.
Northern District judges sided with the state. On appeal, the Southern
District’s injunction was reversed with a stay and the cases were
consolidated with cases from the Northern District.
Earlier this month, Illinois’ briefs in the consolidated case in front
of the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals argued modern firearms are
dangerous because of advanced technology, are only used by criminals,
and recent mass shootings require the ban.
Plaintiffs filed their briefs this week. Tuesday, attorney David Sigale,
who is representing a plaintiff's group, said firearm technology isn’t
new, it’s been around for hundreds of years. He also said as horrible as
violent crime is, that also is not new.
“And the way to solve this problem is not to strip the rights away from
and criminalize the behavior of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands
of law-abiding people of this state,” Sigale told The Center Square.
Reply briefs in the gun ban challenge are due to the federal appeals
court June 26. The case will be argued in Chicago June 29. While Sigale
hopes the appeals court issues an expeditious ruling, he said it’s
possible they could hold off until early next year, after part of
Illinois’ law requiring registration kicks in.
[to top of second column]
|
Semi-automatic firearms behind a locked
cabinet at a retailer in Springfield, Illinois, with a note to who
can purchase such weapons
Greg Bishop / The Center Square
Separately, a Sangamon County judge now has a case challenging the
constitutionality of Illinois’ FOID law under review.
The FOID card has been Illinois law for decades. Any Illinoisans wanting
to buy or own firearms or ammunition must have a valid card or face
criminal penalties. There are more than 2.4 million FOID card holders in
Illinois. Only four states have such a requirement for the purchase and
possession of firearms.
In Illinois, Guns Save Life founder John Boch brought a case challenging
Illinois’ FOID law in 2019. He said recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent
requires courts to evaluate the text, history and tradition of the
Second Amendment in such challenges.
“And of course there were no FOID cards in 1791, so there’s no
historical analog the state can point to for legitimizing this
unconstitutional restriction of our rights, to require people to
register, to pay for their constitutional rights, their fundamental
constitutional rights,” Boch said in April.
A hearing in the FOID case was delayed from April. With a new judge,
plaintiffs and the state argued the issue Tuesday. Proposed orders are
due to the judge within 21 days.
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.
|