Full Metal Docket: Gun Rights Groups Seek Full Appellate Court Review

CHICAGO — In the latest effort to challenge Illinois' new restrictions on certain types of firearms and magazines, a trio of gun rights advocacy groups have asked the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals to review its decision refusing to block state officials from enforcing the Protect Illinois Communities Act.

The Firearms Policy Coalition, a Las Vegas-based nonprofit, has petitioned the 7th Circuit for an "en banc" hearing — one held before the full 11-member appellate court — to challenge the Nov. 9 ruling in which a three-judge panel of the appellate court voted 2-1 to reverse a preliminary injunction imposed by a trial court judge.

Passed in response to last year's mass shooting at the Highland Park Independence Day parade, the Protect Illinois Communities Act defines and restricts the sale and possession of "assault weapons" and "large capacity ammunition feeding devices."

According to the petition, Illinois' assault weapons ban violates the Second Amendment under the interpretation laid out by the U.S. Supreme Court last year in the case of New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen. In Bruen, the Supreme Court emphasized a history-based approach to understanding the right to firearm ownership, which the gun owners advocates say supports their opposition to such bans.

“Bruen makes crystal clear why [Illinois’] ban is unconstitutional, as firearms and their feeding devices are plainly ‘arms’ no matter what features they possess, and the arms Illinois has banned are among the most common arms in possession today,” argues the FPC's 22-page petition.

“Yet rather than meaningfully engage with the textual and historical analysis Bruen laid out, the panel majority embraced the remarkable proposition that Illinois’ ban does not even implicate the Second Amendment, on the theory that none of the newly outlawed rifles, pistols, shotguns, and feeding devices are ‘arms’ at all.”

Cody Wisniewski, the vice president of legal for FPC and general counsel for FPC Action Foundation, said the U.S. Constitution forbids Illinois lawmakers from banning guns like the AR-15 or AK-47 or magazines that can hold dozens of bullets. Authorities allege the shooter at the Highland Park parade almost completely emptied three 30-round magazines from a Smith & Wesson M&P-15, the nation's best-selling assault-style rifle.

"This case is a prime candidate for review of the entirety of the Seventh Circuit given its clear departure from the Supreme Court's unqualified command and its misunderstanding of basic firearm operation," Wisniewski said in a statement. "The arms at issue, both the firearms and magazines, are constitutionally protected and cannot be banned. The people of Illinois have a right to possess them, just as do all peaceable people around the country."

The FPC is joined in its lawsuit by the Second Amendment Foundation, or SAF, and the Illinois State Rifle Association, or ISRA.

Richard Pearson, the executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, said his group opposed the ban as it went through the legislature and pledged to take the governor to court before he signed it. He said the petition the FPC filed Friday is another step on the road to a likely hearing before the nation's highest court.

"The ISRA remains committed to standing beside our fellow 2nd Amendment Defenders in Illinois against this law and we will fight all the way to the Supreme Court," Pearson said.

The challenge from FPC, ISRA and SAF follows a Nov. 9 petition to the U.S. Supreme Court by State Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur), a local pawnbroker and an unincorporated association of area gun owners. Their long-shot effort seeks to get Supreme Court justices to intervene and overturn an interpretation of the Illinois Constitution by the state's highest court.

Meanwhile, there are less than six weeks remaining for owners of weapons banned under the Protect Illinois Communities Act to register them with Illinois State Police or face potential legal entanglements.

ISRA President Doug Mayhall said state police have admitted that they are still revising the rules ahead of the Jan. 1 deadline, which makes it "almost impossible" to follow the law.

"Make no mistake, the ISRA continues to fight this law in federal court and we expect that this vague and confusing law will eventually be overturned based on current case law," he said. "However, until that happens, firearm owners are faced with the choice of not complying or trying to navigate rules that are almost impossible to follow, should they decide to register."

Mayhall recommended that gun owners wait until after a Dec. 12 hearing of the Joint Committee of Administrative Rules at which changes to the rules are likely to be introduced or adopted.

Related:

• State Rep Asks U.S. Supreme Court To Overrule Illinois Supreme Court
• Illinois Assault Weapons Ban Foes Promise Supreme Court Challenge
• Assault Weapon Bans For Illinois, Naperville Upheld By Federal Judges
• Illinois Assault Weapon Owners Can Now Register Grandfathered Guns