SAFE: The Supreme Court just let a gun reform law stand
The U.S. Supreme Court made a significant rightward shift with the appointments of extremist justices by the former president, but it still refused to take drastic action on gun reform today.
Earlier this year, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law a bill that would ban the sale of certain high-powered rifles and high-capacity magazines.
Now the lawsuits are progressing through the court system, and the Supreme Court has been asked to intervene and block the law temporarily while lower courts work out the long-term decision.
The legislation has already been through a roller coaster — briefly blocked before a 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put that ruling on hold.
Now the state’s Supreme Court is considering the case, and its federal counterpart has rejected the request to block the law in the meantime.
That doesn’t ensure the law will be upheld, and the case could come back to SCOTUS in the course of time for a final decision.
For now, though, they’re leaving it to the lower courts. NBC reports:
“The decision in a brief unsigned order means the Illinois law enacted in the wake of a July 4 shooting in the city of Highland Park last year that killed seven will remain in effect while legal challenges continue.”
The gun reform law carves out a list of exceptions.
Those who already owned their weapon before January 10th can sign an affidavit swearing to that and retain it, though they may be limited in use to private property with permission.
Licensed dealers can still stock AR-15s and other high-powered rifles, which they’re allowed to sell to current and former law enforcement officers and certain other exempt individuals.
The legislation lists exemptions to include military, prison wardens and superintendents, and private security, among others.
These exemptions are actually one of the arguments brought in a lawsuit, where the plaintiff says this violates equal protection, creates classes of “winners and losers,” and makes gun ownership an employment perk rather than a Constitutional right. The State Journal-Register reports:
“When Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis asked if any court in the country had ruled ownership of an assault weapon to be a constitutional right, [attorney Jerry] Stocks explained that prior rulings were only applied to handguns. Still, he argued that weapons of ‘common use,’ including assault weapons, were protected.”
The decision not to grant an emergency block on the gun reform law, despite not being a final ruling, suggests that SCOTUS is taking a step back from aggressive expansion of the Second Amendment and allowing the state courts to do their job first.
