Illinois Loses Appeal of Halted Gun Control Law

The Illinois On Tuesday, the lower court judge denied an appeal and issued a restraining orders on a new ban on semiautomatic rifles.

J.B. Pritzker, Illinois Governor, signed the gun control bill on Jan. 10. It bans the sale or distribution of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. The law went into effect right after he approved it.

Joshua Morrison, Effingham County Judge, issued a temporary restraining or Against the law On January 24, it was revoked.

Four gun merchants and 850 people sued Morrison for claiming that the law was improperly enacted and did not have adequate public input. In addition, Morrison ruled that the law violated the U.S. Constitutions equal Protection clause by allowing exemptions for certain groups of persons based on their profession or training. People who are either active or retired in law enforcement are exempted from the ban.

ILLINOIS FIGHTS BACK AFTER JUDGE SLAPS RESTRAINING ORDDER ON GUN CONTROLLAW

FILE – These assault weapons were on sale at Capitol City Arms Supply in Springfield, Illinois on January 16, 2013.
(AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)

Morrison stated in his ruling, that plaintiffs are “being immediately and irreparably harmed each day in which their fundamental right to bear arms is being denied.”

The Illinois Fifth District appellate court decided Tuesday, in a 2 to 1 decision, that the temporary restraining orders can be kept in place and extended it statewide after an appeal by Kwame Raoul, Illinois Attorney General. Previously, the temporary order was only for the plaintiffs.

ILLINOIS SHERIFF REFUSES NEW GUN CONTROL LAW. ‘CLEAR VIOLATION OF THE 2ND AMENDMENT’

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
(Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

According to the ruling, the plaintiffs had been a “a likelihood of success on the merits” Concerning their argument that the law breaches the state and the U.S. Constitution’s equal-protection clause.

Illinois faces several other lawsuits that challenge the law, one of which is from the National Rifle Association.

Jason Ouimet, executive Director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action stated to Fox News Digital that this law is not constitutional.

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FILE: Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul gives his remarks after being sworn into his second term as attorney-general during ceremonies Monday Jan. 9, 2023 in Springfield. Raoul, on Monday Jan. 23, 2023 asked a state court to dismiss a temporary restraint order against Illinois’ new ban of semiautomatic weapons. It was issued in response to a mass shooting in Highland Park, a suburb of Chicago.
(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast; File)

“The NRA will not stand by while activist politicians pass unconstitutional laws that do nothing to promote public safety. We sued the state of Illinois because this new law is a blatant violation of Americans’ Second Amendment rights,” Ouimet claimed.

This report was contributed by Chris Pandolfo, Fox News.