A federal judge in Illinois ruled that the state’s assault rifle ban is unconstitutional, arguing that the decision violates the Second Amendment.
In U.S. District Judge Stephen McGlynn’s opinion, he issued a permanent injunction prohibiting enforcement of the ban, though he stated the injunction won’t take effect for 30 days, meaning it’s paused to give time for an appeal.
The decision comes as a federal appeals court in the state last month upheld the assault weapon ban — which was passed last year following a mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade in the suburbs of Chicago — arguing that the ban constitutes a reasonable limit on the Second Amendment.
“Government may punish a deliberately false fire alarm; it may condition free assembly on the issuance of a permit; it may require voters to present a valid identification card; and it may punish child abuse even if it is done in the name of religion,” Judge Diane Wood wrote in that decision. “The right enshrined in the Second Amendment is no different.”