The Supreme Court announced Wednesday that Illinois can keep a new law in place blocking the sale of certain semi-automatic guns and large-capacity magazines for now as the matter is slated for appeals court arguments.
The court denied an emergency request from groups challenging the law, which bans many semi-automatic weapons. The court did not comment, and no justices offered a public dissent.
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Earlier this week, a letter from the state was sent out detailing the schedule for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit’s review of the case next month on June 29.
The case petitioned to the high court involves a state gun control law enacted in January. The law specifically bans the sale of guns including the AR-15 and the AK-47. It also blocks the sale of magazines with more than 15 rounds of ammunition for handguns and 10 rounds of ammunition for long rifles.
People who own the now-banned guns and magazines can keep them. However, they must be registered with law enforcement.
Outside of Illinois, nine other states and the District of Columbia have similar gun bans, according to the gun control group Brady, which tracks firearms legislation nationwide.
The state’s recently enacted law was largely inspired by the killing of seven people at a Fourth of July parade last year in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park. The shooter carried an AR-15 rifle with 30-round magazines.
A federal trial court in February declined to put the law on hold, and the 7th Circuit also declined to put it on hold while the case is slated to be argued on the merits in late June.
Earlier this month, Justice Amy Coney Barrett requested further response from the city of Naperville, Illinois, over the locality’s own ban on certain firearms that mirrors the state law.
But the Wednesday decision to keep the state’s law in place also quashes the challenge against the similar Naperville rule for now. Plaintiffs could appeal back to the Supreme Court after the 7th Circuit makes a full determination.
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The Supreme Court has handed significant victories to gun rights advocates, with a ruling just last year finding the Constitution protects a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense.
But the justices have been wary about wading back into another high-profile gun case so soon, opting to have litigants exhaust their options in lower courts before bringing an emergency petition to the high court.
