Federal judge strikes down Illinois assault weapons ban, setting up likely appeal

Capitol News Illinois

SPRINGFIELD – A federal judge in East St. Louis on Friday struck down Illinois’ assault weapons ban on the grounds that it violates the Second and 14^th amendments to the U.S. Constitution and issued an order barring the state from enforcing it.

That order, however, was stayed for 30 days, giving the state time to file an appeal before it takes effect.

In a 168-page opinion released Friday afternoon, Judge Stephen McGlynn sided with plaintiffs in the case who argued the assault-style weapons banned under the law are commonly used for legal purposes such as self-defense.

“What is particularly disturbing is that the prohibition of weapons that are commonly owned and used by citizens are now banned, depriving citizens of a principal means to defend themselves and their property in situations where a handgun or shotgun alone would not be the citizen’s preferred arm,” McGlynn wrote.

In March, before the case went to trial, McGlynn issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the law, saying the plaintiffs challenging the law were likely to prevail on the merits of the case.

But the 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision, and in July the U.S. Supreme declined to review it – along with several other cases challenging the law – and remanded all the cases back to district courts for full proceedings.

The case before McGlynn was the subject of a week-long trial in September. Two other cases, each with multiple sets of plaintiffs, are pending before district court judges in the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago.

Read more: State wraps up case in challenge to assault weapons ban

Meanwhile, a three-judge panel of the 7^th Circuit is scheduled to hear oral arguments on Tuesday, Nov. 12, in a case challenging Cook County’s local assault weapons ban.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul did not immediately comment on McGlynn’s ruling.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. 

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