A federal judge prohibited Illinois from enforcing its ban on assault weapons, marking a victory for Second Amendment activists and reversing a law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL).
U.S. District Judge Stephen McGlynn ruled Friday in favor of plaintiffs who argued that the Protect Illinois Communities Act (PICA) was “an unconstitutional infringement” of Second Amendment rights.
“Government may not deprive law-abiding citizens of their guaranteed right to self-defense as a means of offense,” McGlynn wrote in a 168-page opinion that suggested people use guns to defend themselves because “sometimes,” there is “no one” else to protect them.
The ruling, which will not go into effect for 30 days, will likely be appealed. It comes after Pritzker signed the assault weapons ban into law in January 2023, a move that affected more than 29,000 AR-15 gun owners in the state.
Several firearms, such as the AR-15, regularly referred to as “assault weapons,” are commonly used by people across the country. National surveys by Ipsos in 2022 found that roughly 16 million Americans own an AR-15. An analysis by the Washington Post earlier this year determined that while 33% of assault rifle owners use the weapon for self-defense purposes, 15% use it for recreational use, and the same percentage use the firearm for target shooting.
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Judge McGlynn’s decision marks a win for the National Rifle Association. The pro-Second Amendment organization backed the lawsuit against Pritzker’s ban, arguing that it “enacted the most restrictive firearms law in the state’s 200-year history, banning the possession of more than 1,000 previously lawful semiautomatic rifles, pistols, and shotguns, including many of the most popular models in the country.”
However, the Illinois governor said in a statement, announcing PICA that the legislation was meant to prevent school shootings and “massacres like Highland Park, Sandy Hook, and Uvalde.”
