Illinois Assault Weapons Ban Deemed Constitutional by Top Court

The Illinois Supreme Court upheld on Friday a state law restricting the manufacture, sale, and possession of assault weapons and other deadly armaments, ruling the law doesn’t violate citizens’ equal protections rights.

“The equal protection clause does not forbid the legislature from drawing distinctions in legislation among different categories of people as long as the legislature does not draw those distinctions based on criteria wholly unrelated to the legislation’s purpose,” Justice Elizabeth Rochford wrote in the 4-3 decision .

Police officers and other trained professionals were exempted from the ban.

"[W]e hold that the exemptions neither deny equal protection ...