News

back arrow iconBack to News

April 5, 2012

Illinois Ruling a Victory for 2nd Amendment


The Illinois Supreme Court today reversed a trial court’s dismissal of a lawsuit challenging Cook County’s so-called “assault weapons” ordinance banning certain commonly owned and widely used semi-automatic firearms, including modern sporting rifles—a decision the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry, called a victory for the Second Amendment.

The court actually reached two decisions in Wilson v. Cook County, sending part of the case challenging the ordinance on Second Amendment grounds back to the lower court, while at the same time upholding the lower court’s dismissal of the plaintiffs’ challenge that the county’s ordinance was unconstitutionally vague.

“A record can now be developed in the trial court demonstrating that these rifles are used for legitimate purposes, and the claim that they are 20 times more likely to be used in the commission of a crime is a canard. It’s time to bring Cook County into the 21st Century,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel.

Read the complete news release, the court’s decision and the NSSF amicus brief and modern sporting rifle owners survey cited in the brief.

Share This Article

Tags: assault weapons modern sporting rifles National Shooting Sports Foundation semi-automatic rifles

Categories: Government Relations, Hunting, Shooting, Top Stories