Assault Weapon Bans For Illinois, Naperville Upheld By Federal Judges

NAPERVILLE, IL — The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on Friday rejected a challenge by a group of plaintiffs including a Naperville gun shop owner seeking to overturn both the State of Illinois’ and The City of Naperville’s ban on high-powered assault weapons.

The court announced its decision on Friday, nearly five months after Robert Bevis and others filed suit against the City of Naperville, Police Chief Jason Arres as well as the State of Illinois and Attorney General Kwame Raoul.

Bevis, the owner of Law Guns in Naperville, argued against the bans, both of which prohibit the sale of certain assault weapons and ammunition magazines. Bevis, who has challenged both the state ban and the ordinance in Naperville banning assault weapons, has claimed consistently that the bans would do damage to his business.

However, attorneys for the City of Naperville who presented arguments when Bevis made his appeal to the three-judge panel this summer, maintained that while the gunshop owner was claiming the ban kept him from doing business, "the residents of Naperville and Illinois will be placed at additional risk of mass murder. Those consequences far outweigh applicants’ speculative and purely monetary business concerns.”

However, previous courts had rejected challenges to earlier court rulings regarding the state's assault weapon ban, which went into effect on Jan. 10. The Illinois State Supreme Court narrowly upheld the state ban in August after it was challenged downstate.

As part of its 2-1 ruling on Friday, the panel of three federal judges in Chicago determined that “even the most important personal freedoms have their limits”, the court wrote in its findings. The decision comes after a three-panel of judges heard arguments from Bevis, who was seeking to overturn not only Naperville’s city ordinance banning assault weapons but the state’s ban – which has been in effect for just less than a year and which was introduced in the wake of the mass shooting at the 2022 Highland Park July 4 parade, in which seven people were killed and dozens were injured.

Two of the three judges determined in the ruling that both the state of Illinois and cities such as Naperville and Highland Park which have assault weapon bans in place have a "strong likelihood of success" in defending the law.

The ruling also upheld the previous decisions made by federal district courts in Chicago and overturned a ruling made by a district court in Southern Illinois that found the ban unconstitutional.

“Government may punish a deliberately false fire alarm; it may condition free assembly on the issuance of a permit; it may require voters to present a valid identification card; and it may punish child abuse even if it is done in the name of religion,” Judge Diane P. Wood wrote in Friday’s decision. “The right enshrined in the Second Amendment is no different.”

Wood, who was appointed to the Appeals Court by President Bill Clinton, was joined in her decision by Judge Frank Easterbrook, who was appointed to the court by President Ronald Reagan. The dissenting vote in Friday's decision was issued by Judge Michael Brennan, who was appointed to the court by President Donald Trump and who was part of the three-judge panel that heard arguments back in June.

In response to Friday's decision, John Schmidt, a board member of the Gun Violence Prevention PAC Illinois, praised the ruling and said that the decision "means that Illinois citizens will continue to be protected against the violence of these military-style weapons."

He continued: "The Court finds that these military-style weapons are not “arms” protected by the Second Amendment because they are not weapons commonly used by civilians for self-defense. They are much more like machine guns and military-grade weaponry than they are like the many different types of firearms that are used for individual self-defense.

“And even if the weapons were within the protection of the Second Amendment, the courts find that the ban falls within the nation’s 'unbroken tradition of regulating weapons' to protect public safety."

In addition, the national group, Brady United Against Gun Violence issued a statement also praising the court's ruling. The Washington D.C.-based group previously represented The City of Naperville in challenges seeking to overturn the city's ordinance banning certain high-powered weapons.

In a statement issued Friday afternoon, the group said the Appeals Court's ruling represents an important victory for states and cities fighting to keep their residents safe.

“States and cities should have the right to stop these weapons of war from decimating our communities, and this ruling demonstrates that assault weapon bans are indeed constitutional," the statement said.

“When the victims of the Highland Park shooting were gunned down by an assault weapon, their local and state leaders took a stand to say enough is enough. The gun industry feels threatened by the groundswell of voices trying to hold them accountable, and after today, they should feel even more unsteady.”