Supreme Court declines to block Illinois assault weapons ban – for now
Washington DC - The US Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to immediately block Illinois' ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, allowing it to remain in place for now.
The Supreme Court justices has decided not to act on an emergency request to halt Illinois' assault weapons ban and Naperville's ban on assault rifle sales, passed in the wake of the deadly July 4 mass shooting in Highland Park last year.
The state's Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the Protect Illinois Communities Act into law in January, banning the sale of many semiautomatic rifles and magazines that take more than 10 rounds for long guns and 15 rounds for handguns.
Naperville's ordinance, which bans the sale of assault rifles, passed last August and took effect in January.
Robert Bevis, the owner of a Naperville gun store called Law Weapons, filed suit over the local ordinance, and that was later expanded to conclude the Protect Illinois Communities Act.
In February, a federal district judge in a preliminary ruling chose not to halt either measure, a decision upheld in April by the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Supreme Court's decision not to grant an emergency block does not mean they will not rule in the gun advocates' favor once they review the actual case.
Cover photo: REUTERS