Illinois Supreme Court Clears Way for State’s Sharp Gun Limits

Background: Gun-rights advocates have questioned the law’s effectiveness and legality.

From the beginning, the gun ban prompted challenges from Republicans, especially in conservative counties in Downstate Illinois, where some sheriffs have said that they will not fully enforce the new law.

Illinois has some of the strictest gun restrictions in the country, but state-by-state firearms laws have their limits. Officials in Chicago have long pointed to neighboring Indiana, with its looser gun laws, as the source of illegally obtained guns that are used in shootings in Chicago.

Opponents of the Illinois law have also pointed to a U.S. Supreme Court decision in a New York case last year as evidence that wide-ranging gun bans in Illinois will not withstand scrutiny.

In that case, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, the high court found that Americans had a broad right to arm themselves in public and struck down a New York law that placed strict limits on carrying guns outside the home.

What’s Next: More legal fights remain.

Mr. Pritzker praised Friday’s ruling, calling the gun ban a “common sense gun reform law to keep mass-killing machines off of our streets and out of our schools, malls, parks and places of worship.”

“This decision is a win for advocates, survivors and families alike because it preserves this nation-leading legislation to combat gun violence and save countless lives,” the governor said in a statement.

The law still faces challenges before a federal appeals court. Several federal lawsuits are still pending before the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago, with the plaintiffs arguing that such sweeping firearms restrictions are a violation of the Second Amendment.

Richard Pearson, the executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, an organization that supports gun rights, said in a statement that the court’s decision was “no surprise.” The group hopes to challenge the law in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, he said, which will “prove to be a victory not just for law-abiding gun owners in Illinois, but across the country.”