Judge denies Illinois' motion to hold transit carry ban ruling pending appeal

[October 03, 2024]  By Greg Bishop | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – A federal judge has denied a motion from the state of Illinois and Cook County to hold his ruling against the prohibition of carrying concealed firearms on mass transit pending appeal.

In late August, Northern District of Illinois federal Judge Iain Johnston ruled Illinois' law prohibiting concealed carry license holders from carrying concealed firearms on mass transit violated the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. He issued an injunction against the state from enforcing the law against the four named plaintiffs in the case.

In their motion to stay, or hold the ruling, pending appeal, the state defendants said such action is warranted because “the potential safety implications of the Court’s order are highlighted by a recent mass shooting on the CTAs Blue Line, in which four people were murdered with firearms three days after the Court’s order was entered.”

Johnston ordered the state defendants to answer questions about that implication during a hearing Wednesday.

"I don't want to kill four people. I don't want to kill anybody," Johnston said Wednesday, chastising the state’s lawyers for inferring that his order impacting the four plaintiffs caused a mass shooting.

One attorney said they cited the shooting "as an extreme type of harm that can result from firearms and it was an example in an attempt to connect to ..."

"The court's order," Johnston interjected.

"No, to the safety implications," the attorney said.

"Of the court order," the judge said. "Did the court order kill four people?"

"No," the attorney said.

"Did the court's order kill anybody?" Johnston asked.

"No, your honor," the attorney said.

"Did the court's order lead to any people shot on mass transit in Illinois," the judge asked.

"Not to our knowledge," the attorney said.

Johnston asked the attorneys defending the law if there was any evidence the four plaintiffs getting relief are a threat to themselves, to others or to public safety, or if they were not concealed carry license holders who had to be vetted by Illinois State Police with background checks and proper training from certified instructors. The attorneys said they didn’t have such evidence.

In discussing the motion to stay, Johnston said the defense didn’t meet the burden of likelihood to succeed in the case, or that there was irreparable harm done with his order.

“You can't speculate that just because I'm allowing four specific plaintiffs to carry handguns for self defense that all hell is gonna break loose," Johnston said. "I have been presented with no evidence. This is an evidence-free motion.”

Johnston went on to deny the defendants’ motion to stay his ruling after a lack of evidence to establish public safety concerns. He also announced that the attorneys representing the state of Illinois and Cook County wouldn’t face any sanctions, but that attorneys must be held to higher standards.

"This isn't a Facebook post,” Johnston said. “This issue is already highly charged. We don't need to increase it with allegations of mass murder and connecting that with a court order. That doesn't help anybody."