Chicago Suburb’s Assault Weapon Ban Held Up by Courts

US gun culture supports gun shows like this one in Texas may have inadvertently sparked the Chicago
suburb Highland Park into passing a gun control law. Photo: M&R Glasgow | FlickrCC.

Mass shootings have, again, been in the news recently following two high-profile incidents in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and San Bernardino, California this month. There have been over 350 mass shootings this year alone, many of which saw shooters using “assault weapons,” a common name for semi-automatic weapons with military-style features. Such weapons, as well as magazines containing more than ten rounds of ammunition, could not be produced or sold in the United States until 2004 when that law expired.

Recently, though, the Chicago suburb of Highland Park passed an ordinance banning both assault weapons and high-capacity magazines within the suburb. Unsurprisingly, some gun owners challenged the law in the 7^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago back in April. That court upheld the ordinance, and the plaintiffs appealed the decision to the United States Supreme Court, which decided not to hear the appeal.

The National Rifle Association, 24 different state governments, and two conservative justices supported the appeal. The Court’s refusal to hear it essentially means that such an ordinance is constitutional, and that other municipalities can pass similar ordinances, codes, or laws.

Any such additional ordinances would, of course, be met with challenges, any one of which could result in a Circuit Court striking it down or upholding it, only to have the verdict appealed, regardless of the ruling.

But Highland Park officials have pointed out that similar laws are on the books in seven other states, including New York and California. They cited the outbreak of shootings that have plagued the country in the last few years. President Barack Obama, following the San Bernardino incident in which 14 people were killed, has called for new limits on assault weapons, a move that would have seen bipartisan support only a few decades ago.