A Second Judge Blocks Illinois From Enforcing ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban

A Second Judge Blocks Illinois From Enforcing ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban

Bronson Winslow on February 3, 2023

An Illinois judge placed a second temporary restraining order on a recently passed gun law that bans so-called assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

White County Resident Circuit Judge T. Scott Webb issued the temporary restraining order Thursday after plaintiffs alleged that the new law, HB 5471, violates the Illinois Constitution. Commonly known as the Protect Illinois Communities Act, the law outlawed the sale, manufacture, possession and purchase of “assault-style” weapons, assault weapon attachments and .50-caliber cartridges, while also limiting magazine capacity to 10 rounds for long guns and 15 rounds for handguns.

“It is hereby ordered that a temporary restraining order is entered enjoining the Defendants from enforcing or attempting to enforce any and all provisions of Public Act 102-1116 against the named plaintiffs in this cause,” Webb wrote in the ruling. “The order is binding upon all parties to this action, including their agents, officers, employees and attorneys.”

Effingham County Judge Joshua Morrison issued the first temporary restraining order in January, saying that law did not follow the required length of time set in the Illinois Constitution for a law to pass, according to the ruling. “The Defendants in this case did not follow the procedural requirements necessary for this legislation to stand up for strict scrutiny that is required when restricting rights to avoid definitional irreparable harm,” Morrison wrote in the ruling.

The initial lawsuit was filed by 1,690 plaintiffs against Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker in January. Since its signing, multiple lawsuits have been filed against the law.

Gun rights advocacy groups, firearms retailers and Illinois residents filed the first slew of lawsuits in January, arguing that the law violates the Second, Fifth and Fourteenth amendments of the Constitution, further saying that the Illinois legislature failed to properly adopt the law, according to court filings in the Effingham County Circuit Court, CrawfordCounty Circuit Court and U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.

Democratic Illinois lawmakers passed the law in early January during the lame duck legislative session, leading dozens of sheriffs to announce that they would not enforce the “unconstitutional” law.

Pritzker did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.