A federal judge has overturned Illinois’ ban on semiautomatic weapons, leaning on recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings that strictly interpret the Second Amendment right to keep and bear firearms.

Summary

A federal judge in Illinois ruled the state’s ban on semiautomatic weapons unconstitutional, citing recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that reinforce Second Amendment rights.

Judge Stephen McGlynn issued a permanent injunction against the Protect Illinois Communities Act, which bans AR-15-style rifles and high-capacity magazines, but delayed its enforcement for 30 days to allow for appeal.

The law, enacted after a 2022 mass shooting in Highland Park, faced opposition from gun rights advocates and some local sheriffs.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul promptly appealed the ruling, with Gov. J.B. Pritzker expressing confidence the ban will ultimately be upheld.

  • n2burns@lemmy.ca
    92·
    5 days ago

    He’s not wrong, exactly. The second amendment doesn’t say “keep and bear some kinds of arms”, it just says “keep and bear arms”.

    It’s kind of vague though. If a kid asks, “Can I have ice cream,” and their parents say, “Yes, you can have ice cream,” it doesn’t mean the kid can have whatever ice cream them want and in whatever quantities they want.

    As a non-American, I always find it funny how some people revere the framers as having future vision and somehow infallible.

    • can_you_change_your_username@fedia.io
      6·
      5 days ago

      People don’t revere the framers, they treat our founding mythos similarly to religion. They embrace what they like and what reinforces their beliefs while ignoring things that they find inconvenient. Primarily they ignore that very little was universally agreed upon by our framers and that the Constitution is the result of significant compromise. When someone says, “The framers believed…” they are almost always wrong and actually only framing what they believe in a way that they think gives it more credibility.