The Illinois Supreme Court upheld the state’s ban on “assault weapons” and “high capacity” magazines last week.
Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the ban into law in January 2023, and lawsuits were immediately filed against it.
Illinois state Rep. Dan Caulkins (R) introduced his case, Caulkins v. Pritzker, arguing that the “assault weapons” ban was unconstitutional, and it was in his case that the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in favor of the ban.
Judge Elizabeth Rochford wrote the majority opinion for the Illinois Supreme Court, and the Chicago Sun-Times later reported that she was one of two candidates Pritzker supported for court in order to “[preserve] a 5-2 Democrat majority.”
In the majority opinion, Rochford focused on trained professionals and claimed that average Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) card holders are not trained professionals, and therefore not prepared to use guns categorized as “assault weapons.”
From Breitbart:
When plaintiffs described themselves as both FOID card holders and “law-abiding gun owners,” Rochford responded: A FOID card holder does not have a duty to maintain public order; to make arrests for offenses; or to prevent, detect, investigate, prosecute, or incarcerate a person for a violation of law. By contrast, each of the seven categories of trained professionals must undergo specialized firearms training pertaining to their employment to maintain their exempt status under the Act.
