The National Association for Gun Rights has filed two lawsuits seeking to invalidate suburban assault weapons ordinances, one enacted in the wake of an Independence Day parade shooting in Highland Park.
The nonprofit Second Amendment rights advocacy group filed two complaints in U.S. District Court Sept. 7, one against Highland Park and another against Naperville. Joining in the Naperville action is Robert Bevis, the owner of Law Weapons & Supply. Bevis challenged an ordinance the City Council adopted Aug. 17 banning commercial sales of assault rifles within corporate limits. That ordinance would take effect Jan. 1.
Highland Park passed an assault weapons ban in 2013, which limits ownership of certain semi-automatic firearms and magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering touted that weapons ban when she unsuccessfully campaigned for the Democratic Party nomination this summer in the race for the open Illinois Supreme Court seat in the state's Second Judicial District, which includes Lake County.
Highland Park was the scene of a horrific mass shooting during the community's Independence Day parade this year, in which a lone gunman on a rooftop killed seven people. The man arrested and charged in the attack faces 21 counts of first degree murder and 48 counts of attempted murder.
The complaint against the North Shore suburban city includes named plaintiff Susan Goldman, a resident of Highland Park. Although Goldman said she stores her guns and ammunition outside Highland Park, which she alleged “renders the arms useless for the defense of her home,” Goldman further argued against limits on her ability to acquire or legally sell such equipment.
“The term ‘assault rifle’ as used in the ordinance is not a technical term used in the firearms industry or community for firearms commonly available to civilians,” the Naperville complaint said, noting an intent to refer to “banned firearm” throughout the filing. “Instead, the term is a rhetorically charged political term meant to stir the emotions of the public against those persons who choose to exercise their constitutional right to possess certain semi-automatic firearms that are commonly owned by millions of law-abiding American citizens for lawful purposes.”
In the Highland Park complaint, NAGR argued “there is a venerable tradition in this country of lawful private ownership of semiautomatic rifles such as those banned by the code” and challenged use of the phrase “large capacity,” arguing magazines capable of holding 10 or more rounds are “standard capacity” and refusing “to adopt the city’s politically charged rhetoric.”
NAGR said such magazines are included with the sale of many popular handguns and long guns, “and Americans own roughly 115 million of them. … There can be no serious dispute that magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds are bearable arms that satisfy the common use test and thus are presumptively protected by the Second Amendment.”
Both complaints argued it is unconstitutional to ban ownership of guns like the AR-15, of which they said at least 5 million were privately owned nationwide as of 2013. Although they acknowledged a 2008 U.S. Supreme Court opinion, Washington, D.C. v. Heller, established a government’s right to place conditions or qualifications on commercial gun sales, they also pointed to a 2010 U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals opinion, U.S. v. Marzzarrella, which they argue established ordinances flatly prohibiting sales are “untenable under Heller.”
The NAGR wants a judge to declare the Highland Park code and Naperville ordinance facially unconstitutional, to issue preliminary and permanent injunctions barring the communities from enforcing the new policies and to be awarded legal fees and compensatory damages.
Representing the plaintiffs in both matters are attorneys Jason R. Craddock, of Oak Brook, and Barry K. Arrington, of Arrington Law Firm, Denver.
Jonathan Bilyk contributed to this report.