Second Amendment Foundation weighs in on Illinois assault weapons ban
lawsuit
[June 10, 2025]
By Carleen Johnson | The Center Square
(The Center Square) - The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and its
partners are weighing in on a case out of Illinois being considered by
the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
The case, which SAF filed a briefing on, concerns a challenge to
Illinois’ assault weapons and magazine capacity bans.
In 2023, Illinois passed the Protect Illinois Communities Act, which
banned the sale or purchase of high-capacity magazines and “assault
weapons.” PICA also requires owners of assault weapons to register them
with Illinois State Police.
An email sent to The Center Square by SAF indicates they are “joined in
Harrel v. Raoul by the Illinois State Rifle Association, Firearms Policy
Coalition, C4 Gun Store, Marengo Guns and Dane Harrel, for whom the
lawsuit is named.”
Here's background on the case:
On Jan. 10, 2023, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed HB 5471 (PICA) into
law.
HB 5471 made it unlawful for any person in Illinois to manufacture,
deliver, sell, import, purchase or possess commonly owned semi-automatic
firearms that the Bill had categorized as an “assault weapon.”
Assault weapons were defined to include “semi-automatic rifles with the
capacity to accept a detachable magazine coupled with which had any
number of certain characteristics, such as a pistol grip, telescoping
stock, flash suppressor, or threaded barrel, which are commonly
possessed throughout the United States for lawful purposes,” according
to SAF.
The bill also made it a crime to “manufacture, deliver, sell, purchase,
or possess so-called large capacity ammunition feeding devices.” Such
devices were defined to include rifle magazines with a capacity of more
than 10 rounds of ammunition and handgun magazines with a capacity of
more than 15 rounds of ammunition.
SAF contends the bill violates the Second Amendment rights of the people
of Illinois and argues the government cannot ban those arms simply
because they do not like the features that they may possess.
“Both modern semiautomatic rifles, and the standard capacity magazines
that feed them, are overwhelmingly in common use for lawful purposes,
including self-defense, said SAF’s Director of Legal Operations Bill
Sack during a Monday interview with The Center Square. “Twice now, the
District Court has agreed and ruled in SAF’s favor, first in granting a
preliminary injunction, and then on the merits on remand. With a full
trial record now before it, the Seventh Circuit has a second opportunity
to properly apply the Heller/Bruen test and leave these Illinois
statutes in the wastebin of history.”
Washington state has nearly identical bans on so-called assault weapons
and high-capacity ammunition, but the Illinois case is further along the
legal and procedural route, so that case is expected to lead the charge
for gun rights supporters.
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Left: Gun rights groups rally at the Illinois Statehouse in 2023.
Right: Gun control advocates rally at the statehouse Tuesday. Greg
Bishop / The Center Square, BlueRoomStream
“We are currently involved in seven assault weapons ban challenges
around the country with Washington being one of them,” said Sack.
“The Harrell case is just a bit further along procedurally.”
Sack explained the U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to hear
another high-profile gun rights case out of Maryland, but hinted the
court is ready to take up the next big case on weapons or ammo bans
with three justices signaling they are prepared to consider a case.
“And then Justice Kavanaugh in his statement respecting the denial
said, essentially, 'We're going to take up this issue soon, within
the next term or two,' " said Sack. “He indicated that he wanted to
give the circuit courts a little more time to chew on the issue
themselves, and we suspect that one of the cases that was well
within his crosshairs when he said that was this Harrell case.”
Gun control groups like Everytown support the ban, arguing it is a
reasonable restriction on Second Amendment rights and would help
reduce gun violence and mass shootings.
Sack noted the AR-15 is one of the most commonly used rifles for
sporting and hunting in the country.
“There are millions and millions of them in circulation,” said Sack.
“They are overwhelmingly used lawfully for everything from hunting,
sport shooting, target shooting, self-defense and more. They are
unquestionably in common use and well within the ambit of protection
by the Second Amendment. The same exact thing goes for the standard
capacity magazines that are built for them.”
Sack said they have no idea how soon the Seventh Circuit will take
up the Illinois case.
“Briefing is underway now, and it will then be on the Seventh
Circuit to set an oral argument date and then how long they choose
to sit on it thereafter. Your guess is as good as mine. You know,
from our perspective, we certainly would love them to push it
through with some haste," said Sack. "We suspect that they might not
so we will see but we are at the whim of the scheduling gods in the
7th Circuit."
As reported by The Center Square, the Washington Supreme Court last
month upheld the state’s ban on the sale and import of high-capacity
magazines, ruling the state can regulate magazines without violating
either federal or state constitutional protections of the right to
bear arms.
SAF believes the U.S. Supreme Court will soon weigh in with a ruling
that will finalize all current state and district level cases
concerning so-called assault weapons and high-capacity magazine
restrictions. |
