Highland Park Woman Drops Suit Challenging Local Assault Weapons Ban

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — The Highland Park woman who, less than 10 weeks after the 2022 parade shooting, sued to try to overturn the city's local assault weapons ban dropped her federal lawsuit this week.

Susan Goldman alleged in September 2022 that she had been "irreparably harmed" by her hometown's 2013 ordinance banning certain semiautomatic firearms.

"I am especially irreparably harmed because the City’s prohibitions require me to store my firearm outside the city limits," Goldman declared at the time, "which renders it useless for the defense of my home and my person, especially in light of incidents such as the recent July 4, 2022 shooting which occurred within city limits leaving seven (7) dead and more than two (2) dozen injured."

On Tuesday, Goldman voluntarily dismissed her claims against Highland Park "with prejudice," meaning she agreed not to file them again.

Since she and the National Association for Gun Rights first filed her suit, the Illinois legislature passed a statewide assault weapons ban, which has been upheld so far by state and federal judges.

Last month, U.S. District Court Judge Harry Leinenweber issued an order granting the city's motion to dismiss the gun advocacy nonprofit from the suit and deny Goldman's request for a preliminary injunction.

Leinenweber said Goldman and the association were unlikely to succeed on the merits of their complaints because the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals had "already considered and rejected in full identical regulations defended by identical arguments."

The judge referenced the appellate court's November 2023 decision upholding state and local assault weapons bans in response to a challenge from a Naperville gun dealer, which found sufficient historical precedent in 18th and 19th century weapon regulations to justify the bans on certain semiautomatic rifles, pistols and shotguns.

"Regulations that ban assault weapons, as here, are merely a continuation of a long-established history," Leinenweber said.

Leinenweber also ruled that the National Association for Gun Rights, or NAGR, which alleged it had Highland Park residents among its members, did not have standing to bring the suit.

"NAGR otherwise fails to provide identifying features of these members: not their names or ages, there are no submitted declarations from members (anonymized in some way or not) or third parties affirming interactions with members that reside in Highland Park, or any other identifying features of these members," the judge said. "Not even co-plaintiff Susan Goldman is a member of NAGR."

The NAGR is a Colorado-based nonprofit with more than 240,000 members across the country, attorneys for the group have alleged.

Representatives of the group expressed confidence the U.S. Supreme Court could still strike down the gun ban following the high court's decision not to issue an emergency stay blocking enforcement of portions of the state assault weapons ban — the Protect Illinois Communities Act — that took effect at the start of last month.

“A right delayed is a right denied, and every day these gun bans are enforced is a travesty to freedom. We will be back to the Supreme Court as soon as our legal team finishes drafting our cert petition, and they will have to decide if they really meant what they said in Heller and Bruen,” said NAGR President Dudley Brown, referencing two earlier rulings on the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

In a declaration filed in support of the city's ordinance, former Highland Park Police Department Cmdr. Chris O'Neil described the July 4, 2022, mass shooting, the town's first homicides in 19 years.

"At approximately 10:14 am I heard gunfire. I recognized it because of the rapid succession of the shots, the volume, and my training. However, due to echoes of the sound I could not tell exactly where it was coming from," O'Neil said, recalling he drove about 60 feet north from the intersection of Laurel and First streets and parked his squad car.

"When I parked, I heard a second volley of gunfire consistent with the sound and volume of the first. In total, I recall the shooting lasting between approximately 60 and 90 seconds and hearing at least 60 shots fired," he said. "During the second volley, neither I nor my fellow officers could identify where the gunfire was coming from because of echoes bouncing off of the nearby buildings and the sound caused by parade-goers running for their lives."

The man awaiting trial for shooting more than 50 paradegoers, seven fatally, is due back in court on Feb. 21. His bankrupt father is on probation after serving four weeks behind bars last year, joining his son in Lake County Jail after pleading guilty to recklessly signing off on the accused shooter's application for a gun ownership license from the Illinois State Police.

In a statement following the Goldman's dismissal of her complaint, Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering said the town was proud to have taken action against gun violence by passing its municipal assault weapons ban more than a decade ago.

"Then as now, it is a clear articulation of one of our community's core values: that every person has a right to live free from the threat and fear of gun violence," Rotering said. "It is incumbent upon all of us to fight the devastating impact of gun violence by pursuing policies that will end mass shootings across the nation."