An attorney for gun dealers and owners said in court Monday that an Illinois law banning semi-automatic guns like the AR-15 violates the right of many “law abiding citizens throughout the state” to shoot recreationally, hunt and defend themselves. He made the argument in opening statements at the start of a federal trial in East Saint Louis over Illinois’ assault weapons ban. U.S. District Judge Stephen McGlynn will decide whether the nearly two-year-old law violates the Second Amendment right to bear arms, WBEZ Chicago reports. In his opening statement, Christopher Wells of the Illinois Attorney General’s office recalled the 2022 Highland Park mass shooting, where the suspected gunman used an AR-15-style weapon to shoot into a Fourth of July Parade, killing seven and wounding dozens more. Since Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Protect Illinois Communities Act last year, gun rights advocates and elected officials filed lawsuits in both state and federal courts, with appeals going up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to take up the case in July.
The Supreme Court’s decision not to take up the case was one of several court losses for opponents of the ban. The ongoing trial is the first time a judge will weigh whether the law is constitutional. It is still possible the case could make it to the high court. Justice Clarence Thomas said the court needs to offer more guidance "on which weapons the Second Amendment covers.” Plaintiffs had tried to pause enforcements of the Illinois law while the courts consider the constitutional question. McGlynn granted a preliminary injunction on the ban, but the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay on that order less than a week later. The appellate court, in a 2-1 decision, denied another attempt for injunctive relief in November, with Judge Diane Wood writing that semi-automatic guns are like military-style weapons, and do not fall under “arms” protected under the Second Amendment. In his opening statement, plaintiffs' attorney Andrew Lothson said these guns are not exclusively, nor predominantly used in military contexts. Lothson said the law bans many popular shotguns, “including those used right here in Southern Illinois for duck hunting.” Wells cited the 7th Circuit Court ruling, which said the AR-15 is not materially different from the M-16 fully-automatic rifle, commonly used in the military. A 2008 decision from the U.S. Supreme Court found that states can restrict citizens from owning guns used in the military. Wells also said a gun’s popularity in sales “tells us nothing about Americans’ actual self defense needs.”
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