Illinois Supreme Court upholds assault weapons ban

The Illinois Supreme Court closed the discussion on assault weapons in the state. In a 4-3 ruling, the justices ruled that regulations preventing their sale and that of high-capacity magazines are unconstitutional, overturning a lower court ruling. Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker celebrated the decision.

The case was filed after a mass shooting in Chicago on July 4, 2022, in which seven people died. Six months later, the governor signed the Protect Illinois Communities Act into law, which bans the sale and distribution of assault weapons, high-capacity magazines and switches.

Months later, an appeals court temporarily blocked the legislation favoring pro-Second Amendment groups. "No state may enact a law that denies its citizens rights that the Constitution guarantees them. Even legislation that may enjoy the support of a majority of its citizens must fail if it violates the constitutional rights of fellow citizens," District Court Judge Stephen Patrick McGlynn wrote in April.

That ruling was overturned Friday by the Illinois Supreme Court, signed with the pen of Elizabeth Rochford. "Plaintiffs are not similarly situated to the trained professionals. To the extent plaintiffs claim they possess restricted items, they are not treated differently from the grandfathered individuals," the judge wrote in the majority opinion.

Governor Pritzker celebrated that Illinois became the ninth state (besides Washington DC) to ban the sale of assault weapons, joining California, Maryland, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, Hawaii and Delaware.

"This is a commonsense gun reform law to keep mass-killing machines off our streets and out of our schools, malls, parks and places of worship. This decision is a win for advocates, survivors, and families alike because it preserves this nation-leading legislation to combat gun violence and save countless lives," he wrote in a statement.