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03-25-2019, 12:43 PM
Judge Rules Chicago Suburb Can't Ban Assault Weapons (https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/deerfield/news/ct-dfr-assault-weapons-ban-ruling-tl-0328-story.htmll).
Lake County Circuit Court judge ruled Friday that the village of Deerfield overstepped its authority last year when it enacted a ban on assault weapons five years after the Illinois legislature declared such regulations the exclusive power of the state.
Judge Luis Berrones issued a permanent injunction blocking the village from enforcing its ordinance.
In the ruling, Berrones wrote the plaintiff gun owners have “a clearly ascertainable right to not be subjected to a preempted and unenforceable ordinance” that prohibits possession of assault weapons, imposes financial penalties for keeping them and allows their property to be confiscated.
In 2013, Illinois lawmakers were under order from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rewrite state gun laws after the federal appeals court found Illinois law prohibiting gun owners from carrying concealed weapons to be unconstitutional.
Under pressure from both sides of the gun debate, legislators made regulating assault weapons the exclusive power of the state but also allowed local regulations already on the books to stand.
In addition, Illinois lawmakers gave municipalities 10 days beyond the effective date of the new state laws to enact additional local regulations.
Municipalities that enacted regulations within the permitted time frame could later amend those ordinances, according to the state statute.
Deerfield Village Attorney Steven Elrod said Friday the judge found the construction of the state statute in 2013 to be confusing and internally conflicting.
“In one part, (the statute) says the state preempts home rule and is exclusively regulating assault weapons. In the second place, it says if a municipality has adopted or does adopt a regulation within a certain time period, it can concurrently regulate,” Elrod said. “The way in which this judge resolves the conflict is by essentially cutting out the second clause.”
The ruling, Elrod said, is more about “the judge’s perceived defects in the state statute than it is about anything the village of Deerfield may have done.”
“Very importantly and significantly, the issue on which this case turns is not a challenge or claim that was brought by any of the plaintiffs,” Elrod said. “The judge reached this conclusion and makes this argument on his own.”
One of the lawsuits was filed by Deerfield gun owner Daniel Easterday, the Illinois State Rifle Association and the Second Amendment Foundation.
On Friday, the judge held off ruling on one count of the Guns Save Life lawsuit contending the village’s ordinance allowing confiscation of assault weapons represented an unconstitutional seizure of property.
Lake County Circuit Court judge ruled Friday that the village of Deerfield overstepped its authority last year when it enacted a ban on assault weapons five years after the Illinois legislature declared such regulations the exclusive power of the state.
Judge Luis Berrones issued a permanent injunction blocking the village from enforcing its ordinance.
In the ruling, Berrones wrote the plaintiff gun owners have “a clearly ascertainable right to not be subjected to a preempted and unenforceable ordinance” that prohibits possession of assault weapons, imposes financial penalties for keeping them and allows their property to be confiscated.
In 2013, Illinois lawmakers were under order from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rewrite state gun laws after the federal appeals court found Illinois law prohibiting gun owners from carrying concealed weapons to be unconstitutional.
Under pressure from both sides of the gun debate, legislators made regulating assault weapons the exclusive power of the state but also allowed local regulations already on the books to stand.
In addition, Illinois lawmakers gave municipalities 10 days beyond the effective date of the new state laws to enact additional local regulations.
Municipalities that enacted regulations within the permitted time frame could later amend those ordinances, according to the state statute.
Deerfield Village Attorney Steven Elrod said Friday the judge found the construction of the state statute in 2013 to be confusing and internally conflicting.
“In one part, (the statute) says the state preempts home rule and is exclusively regulating assault weapons. In the second place, it says if a municipality has adopted or does adopt a regulation within a certain time period, it can concurrently regulate,” Elrod said. “The way in which this judge resolves the conflict is by essentially cutting out the second clause.”
The ruling, Elrod said, is more about “the judge’s perceived defects in the state statute than it is about anything the village of Deerfield may have done.”
“Very importantly and significantly, the issue on which this case turns is not a challenge or claim that was brought by any of the plaintiffs,” Elrod said. “The judge reached this conclusion and makes this argument on his own.”
One of the lawsuits was filed by Deerfield gun owner Daniel Easterday, the Illinois State Rifle Association and the Second Amendment Foundation.
On Friday, the judge held off ruling on one count of the Guns Save Life lawsuit contending the village’s ordinance allowing confiscation of assault weapons represented an unconstitutional seizure of property.