Gun rights group asks SCOTUS to block Illinois city's assault weapons ban

The National Association for Gun Rights has asked the Supreme Court to block enforcement of an Illinois town's assault weapons ban, after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals declined to do so.

Naperville's ban on assault weapons sales and certain high-capacity magazines was adopted last year and set to take effect on Jan. 1. Local gun store Law Weapons Inc. joined the gun rights advocacy group in challenging the ordinance, according to the Washington Times.

The plaintiffs pointed to the Supreme Court's 2022 decision in New York Rifle and Pistol Association v Bruen, which eliminated a New York requirement that concealed carry permit applicants demonstrate proper cause to carry a firearm. In that case, the court determined that gun control laws must be consistent with the vision of the crafters of the Second Amendment.

Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett handles appeals from the 7th Circuit.

The request follows the Friday decision of a federal judge to block a statewide assault weapons ban that would bar the sale of any "semiautomatic rifle that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine or that may be readily modified to accept a detachable magazine" that also includes a number of external features, including certain stocks, flash suppressors, or grenade launchers.

United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois Judge Stephen Patrick McGlynn determined that the statewide ban "did not just regulate the rights of the people to defend themselves; it restricted that right, and in some cases, completely obliterated that right by criminalizing the purchase and the sale of more than 190 'arms.'" 

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.