Unsurprisingly, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the state’s assault weapon ban constitutional. This overturns a lower court decision on the DAN CAULKINS vs. JAY ROBERT PRITZKER case from March.
Illinois Assault Weapon Ban Update
In the 4-3 ruling, the Illinois Supreme Court wrote, ” First, we hold that the exemptions neither deny equal protection nor constitute special legislation because plaintiffs have not sufficiently alleged that they are similarly situated to and treated differently from the exempt classes. Second, plaintiffs expressly waived in the circuit court any independent claim that the restrictions impermissibly infringe the second amendment. Third, plaintiffs’ failure to cross-appeal is a jurisdictional bar to renewing their three-readings claim. Accordingly, we reverse the circuit court and enter judgment for defendants on the equal protection and special legislation claims. We express no opinion on the potential viability of plaintiffs’ waived claim concerning the second amendment.”
Gov. Pritzker Is Expecting a Supreme Court Battle
Pritzker said yesterday on the assault weapons ban, and he expects it to end up going before the supreme court, “I’m hopeful, but no idea how they will resolve it. It does matter what happens at the state level and state court, but ultimately, the Supreme Court likely will be ruling on this, and so whatever happens there will ultimately, I hate to use the word trump, whatever happens in our state courts.”
Illinois Gun Ban List 2023 HB-5471
HB-5471 includes a long list of banned firearms, including AK, AK47, SKS rifles with a detachable magazine, Bushmaster ACR. MOE series, XM15, Colt Match Target rifles, Remington R–15, Smith & Wesson M&P15 rifles, all Thompson rifles, and others.
The Seventh Circuit is hearing a consolidated appeal that has yet to be decided that has been filed by Bevis v. Naperville. Herrera v. Raoul, and Barnett v. Raoul.
What did the Illinois State Rifle Association Say
The executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, Richard Pearson, said the following about the Illinois assault weapons ban decision, “Today’s 4-3 decision by the Illinois Supreme Court that the assault weapons ban does not violate the constitution, was no surprise. But gun advocates across the state should not lose hope because our federal case — the ISRA case — which we expect to go before the U.S. Supreme Court, will prove to be a victory not just for law-abiding gun owners in Illinois — but across the country. And the ISRA and the Second Amendment Foundation are proud to stand up for gun owners as we take our case to the highest court in the land.”
This Second Amendment case on the right to bear arms will hopefully end up before the supreme court. My guess is nothing will happen until the consolidated case works its way through the system.
