Federal judge in Illinois gun ban case requires state to show 'each and every item banned'

Three federal lawsuits against Illinois’ gun ban made some movement Monday as a federal judge ordered a response from the state to show “each and every item banned.”

In the Southern District of Illinois, four cases are pending. One is from the Federal Firearms Licensees of Illinois. Plaintiffs in that case filed a motion for preliminary injunction last week.

In three other cases, federal Judge Stephen McGlynn ordered state defendants to provide “illustrative examples of each and every item banned” under state law.

Thomas Maag, who brought the state level Crawford County case that was transferred to federal court, said the judge's order will make it difficult for the state to comply.

“Because the ban is so all encompassing and uses a great many vague terms that I’m not even sure that exactly what is banned and that’s probably why judge McGlynn ordered the state to do that so that we could find out what exactly we are arguing about,” Maag told The Center Square on Monday.

He said “the state has a tough row to hoe,” especially given recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent that cases regarding the Second Amendment must review text and tradition, not a balancing of state interest versus individual civil liberties.

“The plaintiffs in my case remain extremely confident that we’re going to succeed on the merits of this case,” Maag said. “This statute never should have been passed in the first place. And applying the Bruen analysis, we believe that the days of Illinois’ magazine and firearms ban are numbered and the number is not very large.”

Maag predicted a ruling on a preliminary injunction, which he said asks the court to prohibit enforcement of the statute pending final resolution of the case, could come sometime in mid- to late-March or early April.

The state has until Feb. 28 to respond in Maag’s case. In the case brought by the Illinois State Rifle Association, the state has until March 1 to respond and March 2 to respond in the case brought by the National Shooting Sports Foundation.