Back in 2006, Cook County, IL (which includes Chicago and its surrounding suburbs) enacted a ban on s0-called “assault weapons“.  This ban is both vague and ambiguous, unreasonably restricting the right to keep and bear arms, while also making it difficult to impossible for gun owners to know what exactly they may lawfully own. The Illinois State Rifle Association sued, and the Illinois Supreme Court recently ruled that this case needs to be reconsidered, in light of the pro-gun-rights US Supreme Court decision in McDonald v. Chicago.  The ISRA’s press release can be seen below:

CHICAGO, Dec. 4, 2010 — /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — A case brought against Cook County, challenging its “Assault Weapon” ban passed in 2006, has finally been decided favorably for the ISRA backed Plaintiffs. The case of Wilson, et al. vs Cook County et al., was returned to the State Appellate Court pursuant to the Supreme Court’s exercise of its judicial authority, and the First District Appellate Court has been ordered to vacate its decision and reconsider the case based on the recent decision in McDonald vs. City of Chicago. McDonald was a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court in which ISRA was one of the Plaintiffs.

In a move that surprised all parties to the litigation, the First District Appellate Court ordered both plaintiffs and defendants to file simultaneous briefs in 15 days, with no Reply briefing allowed. The Appellate court’s Order came within days of the Supreme Court’s issued mandate, which directs the Appellate Court to vacate and reconsider.

The purported “assault weapons,” as defined under the very broad and vague terms of the subject County Ordinance, include numerous semi-automatic handguns and rifles, including the Ar-15, M-1 Carbine, Smith & Wesson P99 pistol, Smith & Wesson 22A, Browning BAR Longtrack, Winchester Super X Rifle, and the Mini-30 Ranch Rifle just to name a few Since the lawsuit was filed in early 2007, the enforcement of the Ordinance has been at a virtual stand-still, and the objective of the ISRA is to see that this unwarranted ban is overturned with finality. A supplementary brief is being filed and the decision of the Appellate Court is expected soon. If required, ISRA is prepared to back this case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The ISRA is the state’s leading advocate of safe, lawful and responsible firearms ownership. Since 1903, the ISRA has represented the interests of over 1.5 million law-abiding Illinois firearm owners.

WEB SITE: http://www.isra.org

SOURCE Illinois State Rifle Association