Illinois’ gun and magazine ban remains in place after being upheld by a split Illinois Supreme Court.
The anticipated ruling in the case brought by state Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur, was released Friday.
“First, we hold that the exemptions neither deny equal protection nor constitute special legislation because plaintiffs have not sufficiently alleged that they are similarly situated to and treated differently from the exempt classes,” the majority opinion said. “Second, plaintiffs expressly waived in the circuit court any independent claim that the restrictions impermissibly infringe the second amendment. Third, plaintiffs’ failure to cross-appeal is a jurisdictional bar to renewing their three-readings claim. Accordingly, we reverse the circuit court and enter judgment for defendants on the equal protection and special legislation claims. We express no opinion on the potential viability of plaintiffs’ waived claim concerning the second amendment.”
The majority opinion was delivered by Justice Elizabeth Rochford and concurred by Chief Justice May Jane Theis and Justices P. Scott Neville and Joy Cunningham.
Aside from Second Amendment challenges alleging the law violates the right to keep and bear arms, another issue stems from the carve out of employees in law enforcement and security sectors, who are exempt from the law. Plaintiffs say not requiring that class to comply with the ban violates equal protections.
State Senator Sally Turner (R-Beason) released the following statement after the Illinois Supreme Court ruled 4-3 to uphold the state’s “assault weapons” ban:
“Today’s ruling is both disappointing and unsurprising. While the Illinois Supreme Court has chosen today to rule against law-abiding gun owners, the federal judicial system will have the final say on this blatantly unconstitutional law on the merits of our 2nd Amendment.”
