A federal appeals judge in Chicago has put a hold on last week’s ruling that blocked enforcement of Illinois’ assault weapons ban.
Appellate Judge Frank Easterbrook agreed Thursday to stay the ruling, at the request of the state’s lawyers, while last week’s decision is reviewed by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
As a result, Illinois’ assault weapons ban appears to be back in effect — for now. The move comes after the appellate court earlier declined to block the ban.
U.S. District Judge Stephen McGlynn, based in southern Illinois, temporarily blocked enforcement of the assault weapons ban last Friday, saying it not only restricted the right to defend oneself but, in some cases, “completely obliterated that right.”
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State lawyers appealed to the 7th Circuit and, on Tuesday, asked it to block McGlynn’s ruling. They called it “unprecedented” and noted that it conflicts with two rulings earlier this year in Chicago’s federal court.
They also said it “is the only federal decision in the country” they are aware of that “enjoins restrictions on assault weapons” or large-capacity magazines under a decision handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court last year.
That ruling, in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, held that gun regulations must be “consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”
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State lawyers wrote that McGlynn’s decision “threatens significant, irreparable harm to the public.” The assault weapons ban was enacted in response to the mass shooting at Highland Park’s Fourth of July parade that left seven people dead.
They also wrote that McGlynn’s ruling followed, but did not acknowledge, the 7th Circuit’s recent decision not to block the law in a case that had reached it earlier.
That case involved Naperville gun shop owner Robert Bevis. U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall in Chicago denied a motion from Bevis in February that sought to block the assault weapons ban. Bevis then asked the appellate court to block the law, but it declined.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Lindsay Jenkins in Chicago issued a ruling that echoed Kendall’s.
The case involving Bevis, which started with Kendall, has now moved on to the U.S. Supreme Court and Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
Bevis has asked the Supreme Court for an injunction against the assault weapons ban and a similar Naperville ordinance while appeals in his case continue. Barrett has asked opposing lawyers to respond to the request by Monday morning.
