Downstate judge's effort to shoot down Illinois' assault weapon ban put on hold pending appeal

The federal appeals court in Chicago put a hold Thursday on a downstate judge’s recent ruling against Illinois’ controversial assault weapons ban — meaning the law will remain in place while the legal controversy it’s generated continues to work its way through the courts.

The order from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is no surprise. Nor was the Nov. 8 ruling from U.S. District Judge Stephen P. McGlynn, who found the assault weapons ban unconstitutional.

This is the second time McGlynn moved to block the ban, only to be undone by the appellate court.

The result is that Illinois can continue to enforce the ban while lawyers take their arguments to the 7th Circuit, based in Chicago’s Dirksen Federal Courthouse. A panel of judges there found in 2023 that weapons covered by the law don’t have Second Amendment protection.

The litigation is viewed as a candidate to ultimately reach as high as the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in July that if the 7th Circuit “ultimately allows Illinois to ban America’s most common civilian rifle, we can — and should — review that decision once the cases reach a final judgment.”

Illinois’ law bans the sale of assault weapons and caps the purchase of magazines at 10 rounds for long guns and 15 for handguns. It was inspired by the 2022 shooting during Highland Park’s Fourth of July parade, which left seven people dead.