Friday the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the gun ban law that prevents certain classes of people from purchasing or selling a variety of guns based on particular characteristics of the weapon. The law passed during lame duck session on January 11, 2023 has been challenged in both state and federal court. The decision today comes from a lawsuit filed by State Rep. Dan Caulkins. His lawyer, Jerry Stocks argued the law violates equal protection laws as it treats classes of legal gun owners differently including allowing “grandfathered” gun owners to own the prohibited firearms as long as they register them. Stocks also argued that citizens have the fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms for self-defense.
State Rep. Brad Halbrook responded, stating “This decision is one more bad decision by a court that Governor Pritzker spent millions getting elected. It’s no surprise that they ruled in this way. It is the second time in the span of a month that they have ignored our fundamental rights to protect ourselves and instead have emboldened criminals. The SAFE-T Act, arguably makes us less safe by returning criminals to the street and the gun ban law denies us the right to own commonly used weapons for self-defense.
There are zero criminals that will pay attention to Pritzker’s new gun ban and registration. He only wants to punish legal gun owners. Additionally, I have no doubt that the federal cases opposing this gun ban will find the law unconstitutional, but the Governor seems to want legal gun owners to spend money defending their rights against his party’s far Left agenda. It is also the third time this Summer that laws passed by the Democrats have wound up in court. Just this week, a judge blocked SB1909, recently signed by the Governor, which limits the free speech of pro-life pregnancy centers.”