US judge tosses Illinois' ban on semiautomatic weapons, governor pledges swift appeal

[November 09, 2024]  By JOHN O'CONNOR and COREY WILLIAMS

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A federal judge on Friday overturned Illinois’ ban on semiautomatic weapons, leaning on recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings that strictly interpret the Second Amendment right to keep and bear firearms.

U.S. District Judge Stephen P. McGlynn, of the Southern District of Illinois, issued a permanent injunction he said applies universally, not just to the lawsuit’s plaintiffs. He decided, however, that the injunction would not take effect for 30 days.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul responded speedily, filing a notice of appeal Friday evening.

The Protect Illinois Communities Act, signed into law in January 2023 by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, took effect Jan. 1. It bans AR-15 rifles and similar guns, large-capacity magazines and an assortment of attachments largely in response to the 2022 Independence Day shooting at a parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park.

The opinion drew heavily from recent landmark Supreme Court rulings expanding on the definition of the Second Amendment's guarantees.

“Sadly, there are those who seek to usher in a sort of post-Constitution era where the citizens’ individual rights are only as important as they are convenient to a ruling class,” McGlynn wrote in his opinion. “The oft-quoted phrase that ‘no right is absolute’ does not mean that fundamental rights precariously subsist subject to the whims, caprice, or appetite of government officials or judges.”

Pritzker said he remained confident the law's supporters would prevail. Fellow Democrat Raoul filed a notice of appeal with U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit seeking reversal of the lower court’s order and a permanent injunction.

“Despite those who value weapons of war more than public safety, this law was enacted to and has protected Illinoisans from the constant fear of being gunned down in places where they ought to feel secure,” Pritzker spokesman Alex Gough said. “The governor is confident the constitutionality of the Protect Illinois Communities Act will be upheld through” appeal.

Assault style weapons and hand guns are displayed for sale at Capitol City Arms Supply on Jan. 16, 2013, in Springfield, Ill. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)

The law, written by Democrats who hold supermajorities in the General Assembly, came six months after a lone gunman perched atop a building fired into the Highland Park parade with a weapon similar to an AR-15, killing seven people and injuring more than three dozen.

It drew immediate scorn, not only in the form of lawsuits from gun owners and advocates, but from scores of county sheriffs who said they refused to enforce what they considered an unconstitutional law.

McGlynn, who was appointed to his post in the Southern District of Illinois by President Donald Trump during his first term, drew closely on U.S. Supreme Court rulings from the past 15 years that have solidified and more recently expanded interpretation of the Second Amendment's guarantees.

He rejected state officials' argument that the Protect Illinois Communities Act withstood constitutional tests because it addresses a new phenomenon — mass killings — and new technology — semiautomatic guns.

“While mass shootings and firearm-related deaths are universally tragic and senseless, the government has not met its burden to prove that the history and tradition of firearm regulations supports PICA’s expansive sweep, covering hundreds of models of weapons, magazines, and attachments used by tens of millions of law-abiding United States citizens,” McGlynn wrote.

Erich Pratt, senior vice president of the Gun Owners of America, which represented one of the plaintiffs in the case, said of Pritzker and Illinois lawmakers, "We warned them to fall in line, but they chose to do the opposite.

“While this case took time, we are thrilled with the victory and for the citizens of Illinois,” Pratt said. "We the people deserve the right to decide how best to protect ourselves and our loved ones, not anti-gun tyrants.”

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