Illinois’ ban on “assault weapons” and high-capacity magazines is set to go before the state’s Supreme Court on an accelerated schedule after being struck down soon after it was signed.
The Illinois Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the state’s appeal to keep the ban in May, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Signed into law in January, the law prohibits the sale and distribution of a slew of firearms classified as “assault weapons,” as well as high-capacity magazines and “switches” that allow handguns to fire automatically, according to a press release.
The ban has been challenged by lawsuits in state and federal court, and nearly every sheriff in the state announced they would not enforce it, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
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Separate lawsuits have granted thousands of Illinois gun owners temporary restraining orders blocking the law from being enforced on them.
The ban was ruled unconstitutional on March 3 by Macon County Judge Rodney Forbes, as reported by the Effingham Daily News. The state appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court.
American Military News CTO Rob Abraham, who is protected by a restraining order in a suit filed by attorney Thomas DeVore, said it is “critically important” for the ban to be overturned.
“Nitpicking weapon types and placing them in a banned status only chips away at law-abiding citizens’ constitutionally-guaranteed right to self-defense, collecting arms, or whatever other legal reason a person has for owning a gun,” he said.
He said the case “needs an expedited timeline due to the fact that Illinois only gave its citizens 300 days to comply with the law.”
Announcing the new ban in January, Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton called it “one of the strongest gun safety laws in the nation.”
“Illinois is proud to do the work and to pass one of the strongest pieces of legislation in the country to make communities safer,” she said. “Gun violence is not our normal, and it never will be.”
