Firearms Trade Industry Group Files Motion to Prevent Enforcement of Illinois Gun & Magazine Prohibition
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) recently filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to prevent state authorities from enforcing HB 5471 — the “Protect Illinois Communities Act.” This bill was recently passed and will ban hundreds of semi-automatic rifles that countless lawful Americans own. All rifles on the Modern Sporting Rifle (MSR) platform will also be banned under this law. In addition, the law prohibits the possession of standard-capacity magazines and certain semi-automatic handgun models.
“NSSF filed this motion for a preliminary injunction because every day this unconstitutional law is on the books, law-abiding citizens are being denied their right to keep and bear arms of their choosing for self-defense and other lawful purposes,” declared Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “This ban on MSRs and other commonly-owned rifles, standard-capacity magazines and certain handguns was passed in open defiance of the Supreme Court’s Bruen and Heller decisions. The Second Amendment protects the right of a citizen to freely approach a gun counter to legally purchase commonly-owned firearms, unless, as the Supreme Court held in Bruen, the state can prove its law is part of a historic, national tradition and heritage of banning such arms – something the state obviously cannot do.”
Jim Grant of AmmoLand noted that HB 5471 is one of the United States’ “most expansive gun control laws.” Grant noted that the bill prohibits “the sale of hundreds of models of rifles, including commonly-owned MSRs, certain semiautomatic handguns, and rifle and pistol magazines with a capacity greater than 10 and 15 ammunition cartridges, respectively.” For perspective, there are currently north of 24.4 million MSRs in circulation and hundreds of millions of standard-capacity magazines that tens of millions of Americans own.
Lawfare, county and municipal nullification, and direct forms of civil disobedience are the only ways for Illinois gun owners to restore their Second Amendment freedoms. The Illinois General Assembly is thoroughly Democratic — 78-40 in the State House and 40-19 in the State Senate — so there aren’t any viable ways to make the state legislature more pro-gun. This is the reality in most blue states across America. Gun owners will have to adjust accordingly to this harsh reality.
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