Washington and Illinois have both recently passed laws banning the sale and distribution of assault-style weapons, high capacity-magazines, and switches that convert handguns into assault-style firearms. Both laws were met with strong opposition from gun rights groups, and in response, both states have faced lawsuits.
Washington and Illinois have both recently passed laws banning the sale and distribution of assault-style weapons, high capacity-magazines, and switches that convert handguns into assault-style firearms. Both laws were met with strong opposition from gun rights groups, and in response, both states have faced lawsuits. In Illinois, U.S. District Judge Stephen McGlynn issued a preliminary injunction on Friday against the state’s Protect Illinois Communities Act (PICA), with the judge ruling that the plaintiffs who sued alleging that the law violates their Second Amendment rights have a “reasonable likelihood” to succeed in their argument.
McGlynn, a Trump appointee, said his ruling is not a final decision on the merits of the case, but he found that the individuals, gun shop, gun range and firearm industry trade association that sued met their burden for an injunction to be issued. The ruling was issued in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision last year in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, which struck down a New York law requiring that applicants for concealed carry permits show “proper cause.” The majority ruled that gun control measures need to be consistent with the country’s “historical tradition.” McGlynn noted that the assault weapons ban in the Illinois case was passed following the shooting at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill., which killed seven and wounded dozens more.
McGlynn noted that the law does not appear to be consistent with the Supreme Court’s ruling last year in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, which struck down a New York law requiring that applicants for concealed carry permits show “proper cause.” “Can the senseless crimes of a relative few be so despicable to justify the infringement of the constitutional rights of law-abiding individuals in hopes that such crimes will then abate or, at least, not be as horrific? More specifically, can PICA be harmonized with the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution and with Bruen? That is the issue before this Court. The simple answer at this stage in the proceedings is ‘likely no,’” he said in the ruling. In Washington, Gov. Jay Inslee signed a ban into law Tuesday, effective immediately. The gun ban, which stacks atop a bundle of gun restrictions adopted over the past several years in Washington. It bans the sale, transfer, distribution, manufacture and importation of 62 gun models the law defines as “assault weapons,” including AR-15s, AK-47s and similar rifles. Opponents of the ban have already filed a lawsuit seeking to have it struck down, and the national Firearm Industry Trade Association has vowed to sue to overturn it. It is likely that the ban in Washington will face a similar court ruling to that of Illinois, blocking the enforcement of the law until a final ruling can be made.
