A federal appeals court on Friday upheld Illinois’ sweeping ban on high-powered guns, rejecting an argument that the law violates the Second Amendment rights of residents.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling is a victory for Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker and supporters of a law passed in January in response to the mass shooting at Highland Park’s 2022 Fourth of July parade, which left seven people dead and dozens injured.
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The appellate panel hard arguments in the case, which consolidated a handful of separate federal lawsuits, on June 29.
In addition to four cases out of the Southern District of Illinois, the 7th Circuit’s three-judge panel also weighed arguments from a Naperville gun shop owner challenging a local ordinance along with the state law. The plaintiffs in that case, Robert Bevis and the National Association for Gun Rights, previously asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block the state and local bans while the case is adjudicated, but the high court declined in May in an unsigned order.
Also part of the consolidated case is a challenge brought against the state, the city of Chicago and Cook County by Chicago emergency room physician Javier Herrera, who argues state and local bans violate his Second Amendment rights. He appealed to the 7th Circuit after a federal district court judge in Chicago declined to issue an injunction.
The federal appeals court’s decision comes as the Illinois State Police reminded the public that anyone who owned guns that were prohibited under the ban before it become law can begin registering those firearms with the state police on Oct. 1.
Under the law, those owners have until Jan. 1 to register the guns with the state police or face a misdemeanor for a first offense of having an unregistered firearm covered by the ban, and a felony for subsequent offenses.
The ban, which affects specific high-powered guns and high-capacity ammunition magazines, has faced a slew of lawsuits on the state and federal levels alleging that the law violates the state and U.S. Constitutions.
The 7th Circuit decision comes a little less than three months after the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the ban in a 4-3 ruling following a lawsuit brought forth by plaintiffs that included Republican state Rep. Dan Caulkins, of Decatur, alleging it violated the equal protection and special legislation clauses of the state constitution.
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But the weapons ban is not the only firearms-related case being challenged in the courts. On Aug. 14, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a gun rights group that was also a plaintiff in the federal case against the weapons ban, filed a separate lawsuit alleging a measure passed last spring that allows people to sue gun retailers or manufacturers for improper marketing ploys that contribute to gun violence is unconstitutional.
* Original Article:
https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-illinois-gun-ban-appellate-decision-20231103-xvk4zknaczhtxbvkktyhbutc2u-story.html
