Background
In 2023, Illinois enacted the Protect Illinois Communities Act, which criminalized the possession and sale of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines. Plaintiffs challenged the law, arguing it violated the Second Amendment. A district court granted a permanent injunction, enjoining enforcement of the Act in its entirety. The State of Illinois appealed, and the Seventh Circuit consolidated the appeals with other similar challenges.
The court’s reasoning
The court assumed for the purpose of this ruling that AR-15s and large-capacity magazines are Arms protected by the Second Amendment’s plain text. It then proceeded to the second step of the Bruen framework, requiring the government to demonstrate that the regulation is consistent with the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. The court found that legislatures have long imposed targeted restrictions on weapons that are particularly dangerous and capable of unprecedented lethality. To illustrate this tradition, the court analyzed historical regulations of the Bowie knife, which was considered an instrument of almost certain death. The court concluded that the Act’s restrictions on assault weapons and magazines are relevantly similar to these historical laws in both how they burden the right to armed self-defense and why they are justified. The court noted that the burden on self-defense is minimal, as evidence suggests that using more than ten rounds or rifles in self-defense is extremely rare.
What it means going forward
The reversal allows the State of Illinois to enforce the Protect Illinois Communities Act, including its bans on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, across the state.