Assault Weapons Ban
EAST ST. LOUIS – An engineer who spent decades designing weapons for one of the world’s leading gun manufacturers testified Tuesday that the assault-style weapons now banned in Illinois are intended only for civilian use and cannot be easily converted into military-grade firearms. James Ronkainen, a former engineer for the Remington Firearms, said the AR-style…
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Gun owners face a Jan. 1 deadline to register their assault weapons with the state under Illinois’ assault weapons law. But between lawsuits and ongoing policymaking, the exact guns, accessories and ammunition covered under the Protect Illinois Communities Act remain unclear to many gun rights advocates, who point out that the ban includes some of the most…
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SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Supreme Court is now deciding whether the state’s recently enacted assault weapons ban violates certain provisions of the Illinois Constitution. In March, a circuit court judge in Macon County sided with a group of plaintiffs led by state Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur, and declared the law unconstitutional. The state appealed directly…
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SPRINGFIELD – Illinois lawmakers are considering further legislation restricting the possession and marketing of firearms, even as state and federal courts are weighing the constitutionality of an assault weapons ban passed in January. On Wednesday, the Illinois House passed a bill that would subject firearms manufacturers and dealers to the state’s Consumer Fraud and Deceptive…
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SPRINGFIELD – A federal judge in East St. Louis issued an order Friday blocking enforcement of Illinois’ ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines until a lawsuit challenging the law is resolved. Judge Stephen P. McGlynn of the Southern District of Illinois said the law known as the Protect Illinois Communities Act is likely to…
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I am proud to join the state’s attorneys of 32 counties by signing on to Madison County State’s Attorney Thomas A. Haine’s brief he filed with the Illinois Supreme Court, seeking to overturn the state’s ban on certain types of weapons. The Amici Curiae brief, also known as a “friend of the court” brief, asks the Supreme…
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Illinois State Police are looking to consolidate several federal cases challenging Illinois’ gun ban into one. The Crawford County state-level case filed earlier this month was the first case to be filed in state court after Gov. J.B. Pritzker enacted the ban on more than 170 semi-automatic guns and magazines over a certain capacity. The…
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SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois State Rifle Association has joined forces with other gun rights advocates in filing a federal lawsuit challenging the state’s new ban on the sale and manufacture of semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity magazines. It’s the latest legal challenge to the law, which went into effect upon Gov. JB Pritzker’s signature on Jan.…
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SPRINGFIELD — Dozens of county sheriffs in Illinois — approximately “80-ish,” per Illinois Sheriffs’ Association head Jim Kaitschuck — say they’ll refuse to enforce a provision of a new assault weapons ban that would require owners of such guns to register them with the state. One of those sheriffs is Tony Grootens from Adams County.…
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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – On the first full day of his second term, Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday signed a bill banning the sale, distribution and manufacture of high-power assault weapons, .50 caliber rifles and ammunition, and large-capacity magazines while still allowing people who already own such weapons to keep them. Pritzker signed the bill during…
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