Supreme Court Declines to Halt New Illinois Assault-Weapon Ban

The US Supreme Court refused to block an Illinois law that starting next year will ban the sale of semiautomatic assault-style rifles and large-capacity magazines.

The high court, without explanation, turned away an emergency request seeking to halt the law while the justices decide whether to hear an appeal. The request came from a gun-rights group and a firearms dealer that lost a similar Supreme Court bid in May.

The challengers also sought to halt a Naperville ban on assault-weapons sales, saying the restrictions violate the Constitution’s Second Amendment.

Gun-rights advocates are trying to extend the 2022 Supreme Court decision that declared a constitutional right to carry a firearm and established a tough new test for assessing restrictions. The court’s conservative majority said defenders of gun laws must be able to show a historical tradition of similar restrictions.

The justices in their current term are weighing the fate of a federal gun ban for people subject to domestic violence restraining orders.

Illinois approved its ban after a shooter armed with a semiautomatic AR-15 rifle and 30-round magazines killed seven people and wounded dozens at a 2022 Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois. A Chicago-based federal appeals court upheld the law.

The high court rebuff came on a request filed by the National Association for Gun Rights and firearms dealer Robert Bevis. They are part of a broader collection of opponents who sued to challenge the Illinois measure.

The Illinois law lets people keep firearms they already have but will bar possession of new assault weapons starting next year.

The case is National Association for Gun Rights v. City of Naperville, 23A486.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Elizabeth Wasserman at ewasserman2@bloomberg.net

Sara Forden

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