(BrightPress.org) — An Illinois gun rights organization in cooperation with individuals and other organizations is filing suit in federal court to block the implementation of the state’s ban on “assault weapons” as clear violations of the second amendment.
The text reads “a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Historically, there have been and still are many laws that infringe on citizens’ rights to keep and bear arms.
This new ban on arbitrarily labeled “assault weapons” bans the possession or manufacture of “high capacity magazines” as well as dozens of different types of rifles and pistols. It further requires legal gun owners to register with the state and declare what one has at home.
The Second Amendment Foundation is joining forces with the Illinois State Rifle Association, the Firearms Policy Coalition, two retail stores, and one individual to challenge the law as they claim it violates the second and fourteenth amendments, impacting the right not only to keep and bear arms but the right to privacy.
Their complaint claimed that the “prohibition on common semiautomatic firearms” denied individuals their fundamental rights under the second amendment. They argue that the only weapons that can be banned must be “dangerous and unusual” according to established jurisprudence, which none of these banned items would qualify as considering they’re all incredibly common across the United States.
The proponents of the law claim it will help curb gun violence, but critics point out that laws like these do not impact the behavior of criminals. Illinois Sheriff Mark Landers was one of the first to openly declare opposition to the law on the basis of it being unconstitutional. Shortly thereafter more than 90 sheriffs in the state had openly declared their opposition to enforcing the law, according to Jim Kaitschuk, executive director of the Illinois Sheriffs Association.
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