Assault Weapon Ban Lawsuits Expected This Week
AR-15 style weapons on display at a suburban gun shop.
It isn’t expected Tuesday, but at least two federal lawsuits are likely to be filed this week challenging the constitutionality of the state’s new assault weapons ban.
Richard Pearson, the Executive Director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, says the organization has had more than 200 volunteers to be plaintiffs in the case. Another coalition associated with former NRA lobbyist Todd Vandermyde is also planning to file this week.
“There are multiple groups working on litigation,” Vandermyde said in a YouTube video earlier this week. “Unpacking this stuff and figuring out the right pieces to put in what lawsuit makes all the difference.”
It isn’t clear yet where the cases will be filed, but we’re told at least one will probably be filed in the Southern District of Illinois in Benton.
Stephen Gutowski, who writes a popular firearms policy related newsletter called “The Reload” told me last night the recent Supreme Court “Bruen” decision “absolutely” puts the Illinois law on shaky constitutional grounds.
We’ll get a sense of the arguments in the coming days, it seems.