Macon County Ruling - What does it mean for you?

Yesterday a judge in Macon County found the Illinois semi-auto ban unconstitutional. 

 First questions are does this apply statewide and can we now buy or sell banned items. We do not believe so. 

The judge followed a Appellate Court ruling from previous cases and issued an order. Shortly there after, the Attorney General’s office filed an appeal with the State Supreme Court. 

In speaking with attorneys we believe that this is limited to those in the suit. The best analogy we can give is a couple of years ago a downstate judge found the FOID card unconstitutional in a criminal case. The State then appealed that to the State Supreme Court. During that time did the FOID card go away? NO. the rest of us were left to show our FOID when buying guns or ammo. We were required to have it for mere possession and when taking guns to or from the range. So if we apply the same act pattern, a Circuit Judge said an Illinois gun law was unconstitutional, and the AG appealed, the law was still in effect while that appeal went on. Same applies here. 

We also expect the Supreme Court to issue a stay of any change in the law when they consider the appeal next week. We also expect them to set a schedule to hear it as well, anticipating an early May date for orals arguments.

Lastly, we don’t believe this has any impact on our cases in the federal courts. The case in Macon County was brought seeking only claims brought due to the State Constitution. No federal claims under the Second Amendment were argued or alleged. 

We understand how confusing all this can be as we track over a dozen lawsuits pending in Illinois right now. Untangling these legal issues sometimes takes a bit of time when the cases or judges are not clear in what they have ordered. We also understand that everyone would like some relief or remedy faster than it seems to be going, but the Courts work at their own pace not ours. 

As more becomes available or things change we will update you.