Federal district court strikes down Illinois MSR, high-cap mag bans

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois on Nov. 8 struck down provisions of the Protect Illinois Communities Act (PICA) that prohibit “assault weapons” and “large-capacity magazines” in an NRA-supported case, Barnett v. Raoul.

In a thorough 168-page opinion, the district court applied the U.S. Supreme Court’s text-and-history test for Second Amendment challenges, as interpreted by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Starting with the text, because the Supreme Court has stated that “common” arms are protected by the Second Amendment but “dangerous and unusual” arms are not, the district court defined those terms. A “dangerous” arm, the court determined, is one “that a typical operator cannot reasonably control to neutralize discrete, identified aggressors.” An “unusual” arm is “an arm deploying an atypical method to neutralize an opponent in confrontation or that deploys a neutralizing agent that is caustic, incendiary, noxious, poisonous, or radioactive.” And a “common” arm encompasses “any bearable rifle, shotgun, or pistol that is capable of semiautomatic fire and is or has been available for purchase, possession, and usage by law-abiding citizens for self-defense, provided that it is not otherwise ‘dangerous and unusual.’”

Applying these definitions, the court concluded that the banned “assault weapons” and “large-capacity magazines” are common arms covered by the Second Amendment.

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Proceeding to its historical analysis, the court emphasized the importance of the right to keep and bear arms at the time of our nation’s founding, and then considered traditional regulations on that right. Ultimately, the court found no historical regulations that could justify PICA’s restrictions.

In conclusion, the court denounced “those who seek to usher in a sort of post-Constitution era where the citizens’ individual rights are only as important as they are convenient to a ruling class,” and it ruled that “the provisions of PICA criminalizing the knowing possession of specific semiautomatic rifles, shotguns, magazines, and attachments are unconstitutional under the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution as applied to the states by the Fourteenth Amendment.”

The court did issue a 30-day stay, however, to allow the government an opportunity to appeal.

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