Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signed the law into effect in January, forcing gun shop owners to put much of their inventory into storage.
Firearms dealers reported lines running outside of stores and a steady spike in business as soon as word circulated about the ruling.
Judge Stephen Patrick McGlynn put the state’s sweeping gun control package on ice with his decision against enforcing the ban. The law prohibited popular semiautomatic weapons, set legal penalties for those who possess certain “assault weapons,” and required those who already owned these firearms to register them with the Illinois State Police.
McGlynn wrote that the law “did not just regulate the rights of the people to defend themselves; it restricted that right, and in some cases, completely obliterated that right by criminalizing the purchase and sale of more than 190 ‘arms.”
The judge added that “a constitutional right is at stake” and that enforcement of the law while it is being challenged in court would cause “irreparable harm.” He agreed with plaintiffs that the statute infringed on their ability to “purchase their firearm of choice” and “exercise their right to self-defense in the manner they choose.”
The news of the ruling out of the Southern District of Illinois spread quickly, and crowds gathered at shops across the state.
Roger Krahl, owner of RGuns in Carpentersville, told the Chicago Tribune that his phones rang off the hook after the decision. “Within 15 minutes, we had people coming in. There was a line outside the door before I could open up this morning,” he said Saturday. “There will be no lunch today, because we’ll be going nonstop.”
Krahl described his reaction as “overjoyed” when he received the news of the injunction.
Another Second Amendment advocate, Maxon’s Shooter’s Supply owner Dan Eldridge, reported that business had not surged to this level since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. His expectation is for the rush on semiautomatic weapons to continue for days to come.
Eldridge is also the president of Federal Firearm Licensees of Illinois. He termed the ability to keep and bear arms such as the AR-15 a “constitutionally protected activity.”
He said many Illinois residents are eager — for good reason — to be prepared to defend themselves.
“Living in Chicago raises obvious self-defense issues. If someone is ready to spend $250 and 16 hours of their time on a concealed carry class, that’s a pretty good indication that they have some concerns about public safety.”
Zach Johnson of Woodstock told the Tribune that he is “fairly excited that I got my rights back. We live in the United States, we should follow the Constitution and be able to do what law-abiding citizens are able to do.”
McGlynn’s dramatic ruling came close on the heels of another decision that upheld the regulations. U.S. District Judge Lindsay Jenkins turned away efforts to impede the new law. She wrote that it fulfilled the Supreme Court’s standard of being consistent with historic firearm regulation efforts.
She called it an understandable government regulation to safeguard the people from “dangerous weapons.” Further, Jenkins wrote the law was in response to “dramatic technological changes” and “unprecedented societal concerns” over increased mass shootings.
The state is already fighting back against the ruling. Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed an appeal of McGlynn’s decision, and he has filed a motion in federal court to stop the ruling from taking effect, pending the result of the appeal to the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
