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Gov. JB Pritzker signed the ban on the sale, possession and
manufacture of a long list of firearms, high-capacity magazines
and certain accessories in January 2023. State Rep. Dan Caulkins,
R-Decatur, quickly challenged it on state constitutional grounds
along with local gun owners and a gun shop owner.
In August, the state Supreme Court ruled against Caulkins in a
4-3 decision. Caulkins had argued that because certain
individuals can still own banned weapons legally if they get a
special endorsement on their firearm owners identification card
while others cannot, the law constitutes “special legislation.”
Democratic Justice Mary K. O’Brien joined the court’s two
Republicans in dissenting. She wrote that she believed the
majority should have viewed it as special legislation because a
law written more generally would have accomplished the same goal
without treating different classes differently.
Last month, Caulkins appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. He
argued that because O’Brien and Democratic Justice Elizabeth
Rochford, who wrote the majority opinion, had received donations
from campaign funds tied to the Democratic leaders named as
defendants in the case, he was not given a fair hearing. The
court declined to hear his appeal.
On Jan. 22, Caulkins petitioned the Illinois Supreme Court to
vacate its August judgment based on the same argument. The state
Supreme Court denied that request Monday.
It does not mark the end of the legal challenges for the assault
weapons ban.
While the federal 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S.
Supreme Court both declined to block enforcement of the law
temporarily, a gun rights group has said it will appeal to the
full U.S. high court to challenge the law’s legality on federal
constitutional grounds.
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