Denial of Injunctive Relief Upheld in 2-1 Split In Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
As we have previously covered, there has been a flurry of litigation after the Illinois state legislature passed a ban on the sale and transfer of various assault weapons and high-capacity magazines that was signed into law by Governor Pritzker. Recently the Seventh Circuit of Appeals in Chicago upheld the blocking of a proposed injunction that would have prevented the law from going into effect in a 2-1 decision, which the Illinois State Rifle Association says they plan to appeal to the United States Supreme Court. The decision left in place both the state regulation of assault rifles, as well as local bans enacted in Cook County, Naperville, and Chicago, and other municipalities, many of which were passed in reaction to the mass shooting last year in Highland Park at an Independence Day parade.
Battle Over Gun Rights Likely Headed to the Supreme Court
Ever since the United States Supreme Court addressed Second Amendment issues in New York State Rifle & Pistol Associate, Inc. v. Bruen in 2022, gun rights have become an increasingly active issue for courts nationwide. The Supreme Court has already agreed to hear at least three other firearm rights related cases during the current term, with others surely to follow in upcoming terms as cases such as those surrounding the Illinois assault weapons ban make its way through the lower courts. This term, the Court is set to weigh in on whether a federal law banning people from possessing firearms who are subject to domestic violence related restraining orders is constitutional and whether a firearm equipped with a “bump stock” can be banned under a federal law banning machine guns. In addition, another case will decide whether the First Amendment protects a New York state regulator who warned financial institutions not to do business with the N.R.A. and other “gun promotion organizations.”
Those accused, those interested in possessing firearms, and those convicted of violating various gun laws in the past, will all be paying close attention as these various decisions that will addressing the constitutionality of firearm and firearm related laws.
