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Illinois

NRA Attorneys Who Helped Win U.S. Supreme Court Case Address Assault Weapons Ban in Illinois

The two Second Amendment attorneys who helped win the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that overturned New York’s concealed-arms law have launched an assault weapons program for Illinois with the support of the National Rifle Association. It challenges the constitutionality of the ban.

Paul T. Clement, who won the New York case, is one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys in the latest federal lawsuit to overturn Illinois’ two-week-old ban.

Clement, a former partner in the Washington, DC office of Kirkland & Ellis, served as U.S. Attorney General during the George W. Bush administration from 2004 to 2008, representing the government in litigation before the U.S. Supreme Court. rice field.

Clement started his own firm after Chicago-based Kirkland & Ellis decided not to handle Second Amendment-related litigation. Erin Murphy, who also participated in the New York lawsuit, is also listed as an attorney in a challenge to Illinois’ assault weapons ban filed in the Southern District of Illinois on Tuesday.

Plaintiffs in the new federal lawsuit are Caleb Burnett of Sparta, Brian Norman of Marion, Benton-based Hoods Guns & More, Benton-based Progun and Indoor Range, and National Sports Shooting.・Foundation Inc.

Although the NRA was not named as a plaintiff, an NRA spokesperson told The Sun-Times that the New York Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen eventually went to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In that case, a June 2022 court overruled New York’s concealed-carrying gun law by a 6-to-3 vote, allowing law-abiding citizens to keep and carry weapons for self-defense. I have ruled against exercising my rights.

While this is the first lawsuit related to the NRA, Tuesday’s lawsuit is not the first to challenge Illinois’ new weapons ban law, known as the Illinois Community Protection Act. The Illinois Rifle Association filed its own federal lawsuit last week. At least three lawsuits have also been filed in downstate county courts.

Governor JB Pritzker signed the bill into law on January 10, immediately banning the sale of assault weapons in Illinois and limiting magazine purchases to 10 rounds for longguns and 15 rounds for handguns. bottom. It also outlawed a rapid-fire device called a “switch” because it turned a firearm into a fully automatic weapon. People who already own banned firearms are allowed to keep them, but they had until January 1 to register with the Illinois State Police.

Gov. JB Pritzker will sign the Assault Weapons Ban on Jan. 10 at the State Capitol in Springfield.

Tina Svondels/Chicago Sun-Times Files

A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday alleges that the law violates the Second Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment. It also argues that the measure is unconstitutional because prohibited types of weapons are commonly used by law-abiding citizens. It primarily argues that the government cannot ban weapons commonly used today for self-defense, as revealed in the Bruen judgment.

“Few other states in the union have attempted to adopt such extreme measures, and for good reason. This is because no less authoritative body than the Supreme Court has decided that semi-automatic weapons ‘ It has been widely accepted as traditionally legal,” because it has already acknowledged that it”s suit status.

Citing the Bruen case, the complaint states that “banning these ubiquitous weapons undermines all efforts to argue that banning these ubiquitous weapons is consistent with the ‘historical tradition of limiting the perimeter of the right to keep and bear arms’.” .

The complaint alleges that semi-automatic rifles are the most commonly used weapon for self-defense today, and that “tens of millions of Americans own hundreds of millions of such weapons,” alleging that the large-capacity It refers to the magazine of

The lawsuit alleges that the law bans hundreds of models of rifles “including all the most popular models in circulation.”

The assault weapon is on display at Springfield's Capitol City Arms Supply in 2013.

The assault weapon is on display at Springfield’s Capitol City Arms Supply in 2013.

“None of this is consistent with the Second Amendment, which protects the right of law-abiding Americans to keep and carry weapons “commonly used” for self-defense today,” the lawsuit said. claims.

The lawsuit seeks a declaratory judgment that holds the law unconstitutional. It also seeks an order staying enforcement of the law against plaintiffs and their members.

The NRA, along with the industry group National Sports Shooting Foundation, said it also bears the costs of the lawsuit.

Attorney General Kwame Raul and Illinois Police Chief Brendan Kelly are named as defendants in the case. The governor’s office and the attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit.

Pritzker, most recently in an interview with CBS News on Tuesday, reiterated that he is confident the law will pass the Constitutional Assembly.

“I think we’re going to win. We have a constitution and we have constitutional scholars and experts who helped create the law,” Pritzker said. “So I’m pretty happy with the final result.”

Last week, a county judge in southern Illinois blocked enforcement of an assault weapons ban against 865 gun owners and one downtown gun store who filed a state lawsuit challenging the law.

contribution: John Seidel



https://chicago.suntimes.com/2023/1/24/23569921/guns-nra-lawyer-supreme-court-illinois-assault-weapons-ban-national-rifle-association-highland-park NRA Attorneys Who Helped Win U.S. Supreme Court Case Address Assault Weapons Ban in Illinois

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