Supreme Court allows enforcement of laws banning sales of assault-style weapons
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The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected an emergency request to block bans on sales of assault-style weapons and large-capacity magazines while legal challenges continue in lower courts.
No dissents were noted in the Supreme Court’s May 17 order, SCOTUSblog reports.
Law360, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times and the Washington Post also have coverage.
Challengers had sought to block two laws. One is an ordinance passed in August 2022 by the Chicago suburb of Naperville, Illinois, that bans the commercial sale of assault rifles. The second, passed in January by the state of Illinois, bans the sale and purchase of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
A Naperville, Illinois, gun shop owner and the National Association for Gun Rights are challenging both laws in a federal lawsuit. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Chicago had refused to temporarily pause the laws during the Second Amendment litigation.
A separate suit filed by a state legislator is pending before the Illinois Supreme Court. The suit alleges that the sales bans violate the Illinois Constitution in addition to the Second Amendment.
Lawyers for Naperville, Illinois, and the state of Illinois had argued that the bar is extremely high for challengers before the Supreme Court when laws are allowed to take effect by lower courts, according to SCOTUSblog. Naperville, Illinois, also argued that the right to sell, rather than possess, guns is not protected by the Second Amendment.
The case is National Association for Gun Rights v. City of Naperville.
The SCOTUSblog case page is here.
