An Illinois firearm retailer filed an emergency plea to the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to block Illinois’s assault-style weapons ban ahead of next month’s registration deadline.
The request claims gun owners in the state are facing irreparable injury because their fundamental right to keep and bear arms is being infringed. The new law, which went into effect in January, prohibits the sale of 170 firearms, but people who already own the weapons can keep them if they are registered with the state before Jan. 1, 2024.
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The law, titled the Protect Illinois Communities Act, was enacted on Jan. 10, 2023, in response to a mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park last year. The law additionally limits the purchase of magazines to 10 rounds for long guns and 15 for handguns and outlaws devices known as “switches,” which can transform firearms into fully automatic weapons.
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The emergency plea comes after the state Supreme Court declined to block the state law, claiming it does not violate the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection nor breach the state constitution’s prohibition on special legislation.
A total of 10 states and Washington, D.C., have banned assault-style weapons in a similar manner to Illinois. California, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, and New York also require the registration of firearms purchased before their individual laws. Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Washington also have the assault-style weapon bans but do not require previous registration.
