Federal judge denies motion to block Illinois assault weapons ban

A federal judge in Chicago has denied a motion seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against Illinois’ assault weapons ban and a similar ordinance in Naperville.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall ruled Friday that both Illinois and Naperville’s bans on selling assault weapons are “constitutionally sound.”

Lawyers for the National Association for Gun Rights and Robert Bevis, who owns a gun store in Naperville, sought the temporary restraining order and injunction as a part of their lawsuit trying to stop the bans.

They argued it is “impossible” for the new state gun law and a similar Naperville ordinance to meet the burden under the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which was decided last summer.

In that case, the Supreme Court ruled governments must show that gun regulations are “consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”

“Because assault weapons are particularly dangerous weapons and high-capacity magazines are particularly dangerous weapon accessories, their regulation accords with history and tradition,” Kendall wrote in her ruling.

“Naperville and Illinois lawfully exercised their authority to control their possession, transfer, sale, and manufacture by enacting a ban on commercial sales,” the judge wrote.

While the lawsuit is one of a number of challenges facing Illinois’ ban, Kendall’s decision appears to be the first from a federal judge considering whether the ban comports with the Bruen decision.

Under Bruen, restrictions on weapons must be limited to dangerous and unusual arms that aren’t commonly used.

The weapons banned by the Illinois law are “unquestionably” in common use, the lawyers for the National Association for Gun Rights argued in a brief.

“An arm that is in common use for lawful purposes is, by definition, not unusual,” the lawyers wrote. “Such an arm therefore cannot be both dangerous and unusual and therefore cannot be … subjected to a blanket ban.”

Given the history of firearm regulations, Kendall wrote, the government can regulate highly dangerous arms, including assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, which pose an unusual risk that can cause greater harm and more deaths.

“The text of the Second Amendment is limited to only certain arms, and history and tradition demonstrate that particularly ‘dangerous’ weapons are unprotected,” Kendall wrote.

Assault weapons are also not commonly used for self-defense, Kendall wrote, and gun owners have plenty of other firearms to use for protection.

The judge said the request to block the bans does not demonstrate irreparable harm to the plaintiffs.

“Bevis has not furnished any evidence that he will lose substantial sales, and he can still sell almost any other type of gun. While a high number of assault weapons are in circulation, only 5 percent of firearms are assault weapons,” Kendall wrote.

Kendall also ruled the state and city have a more compelling argument for protecting the public interest than Bevis and the National Association for Gun Rights.

“On the one hand, they suffer an alleged deprivation of a constitutional right. Again though, the financial burden and loss of access to effective firearms would be minimal,” Kendall wrote. “On the other side, Illinois and Naperville compellingly argue their laws protect public safety by removing particularly dangerous weapons from circulation.”

The plaintiffs filed their lawsuit last year after the city of Naperville passed a local ban, then they amended the case after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law a statewide assault weapons ban, adding the state as a defendant.

The state law – now on hold in some parts of Illinois due to another lawsuit – bans the sale of assault weapons and caps the purchase of magazines at 10 rounds for long guns and 15 for handguns.a

It also made rapid-fire devices, known as “switches,” illegal because they turn firearms into fully automatic weapons. Those already owning the banned guns are allowed to keep them but are required to register them with the Illinois State Police by Jan. 1.

A state-court judge in southern Illinois earlier this month blocked enforcement of the assault-weapons ban against 865 gun owners and one downstate firearms store who filed a lawsuit challenging the law.