The US Supreme Courtroom refused to dam Illinois’ assault weapon and high-capacity journal ban on Thursday. This determination comes after the US Courtroom of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit allowed the ban to enter impact in November. In a one-page order the Supreme Courtroom said, “The appliance for a writ of injunction pending certiorari offered to Justice Barrett and by her referred to the Courtroom is denied.” The court docket additionally declined to dam the ban in Could.
In response to the order, Illinois Lawyer Basic Kwame Raoul stated, “The Assault Weapons Ban is a vital half in addressing gun violence in our communities. I’m happy the court docket denied the appliance for an injunction, and I stay dedicated to defending the constitutionality of the ban.”
After the Seventh Circuit’s ruling, The Nationwide Affiliation for Gun Rights (NAGR), Illinois gun retailer Regulation Weapons & Provide and its proprietor Robert Bevis asked the Supreme Courtroom to dam the ban. NAGR and Bevis claimed that Illinois’s legislation, the Protect Illinois Communities Act (PICA), violates the Second Amendment of the US Structure and will subsequently be declared invalid. Particularly, NAGR and Bevis pointed to the Supreme Courtroom’s determination in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, which struck down a New York gun allow legislation and established stricter requirements for state legislatures to constitutionally regulate gun possession.
In a 2-1 majority opinion, the Seventh Circuit discovered that the Second Modification’s “plain textual content” of the time period “Arms” doesn’t embrace weapons reserved for navy use—which is what the ban prohibits. Thus, the court docket concluded that “navy weapons lie exterior the category of Arms to which the person proper applies.” The court docket additionally discovered that the Bruen determination doesn’t invalidate the Illinois legislation.
Earlier this 12 months, Illinois Governor Pritzker signed the challenged PICA into legislation after the Fourth of July taking pictures in Highland Park in 2022. The legislation instituted a statewide ban on the sale and manufacture of assault rifles. PICA prohibits the sale and manufacturing of assault weapon attachments, .50 caliber cartridges, any .50 caliber rifle and sure pistols. PICA defines assault rifles as any rifle that carries greater than 15 rounds of ammunition. Pistols that maintain greater than 10 rounds of ammunition are additionally banned. Lastly, below PICA, anybody who was already in possession of newly outlawed weapons had till October 1 to report their possession to the state authorities.
Gun distributors additionally challenged PICA in state court docket, and an Illinois state decide ruled that PICA violated the Illinois Structure. Nonetheless, the Illinois Supreme Courtroom reversed the ruling in August.
