Attorney General Pam Bondi was recently quoted saying the Second
Amendment is not a second-class right after investigating delays
in gun permits being issued in California. She said the U.S.
Department of Justice will not stand idly by while states and
localities infringe on the Second Amendment rights of ordinary,
law-abiding Americans.
Illinois State Rifle Association’s Ed Sullivan said they’ve been
in talks with the Trump administration.
“I think it’s timely that Attorney General Bondi would want to
come in and talk to us,” Sullivan told The Center Square. “She
should tackle kind of the most onerous states in the nation when
it comes to anti-gun laws and so we certainly welcome anything
that they want to do to kind of look at this process.”
Several Illinois gun laws, including the state’s ban on certain
guns and the Firearm Owner’s ID card, are tied up in federal and
state litigation.
Illinois gun owners continue to wait for some finality in the
challenges against whether a state can ban commonly owned
firearms.
Last fall, a federal district judge found Illinois’ gun ban
unconstitutional, but that ruling remains at bay while the
appeals court has the case. Sullivan said it’s a waiting game.
“We would have hoped to have something move along faster than it
has but we are at the whims of the courts,” Sullivan said.
The U.S. Supreme Court hasn’t taken up a gun ban challenge out
of Maryland yet while Colorado just approved a gun ban of their
own. Sullivan said patience is tough to come by.
“I know it’s maddening for the typical gun owner that thinks
it’s unconstitutional, that believes it’s unconstitutional,” he
said.
Illinois’ ban on more than 170 semi-automatic firearms and
magazines over certain capacities enacted in January 2023
remains in effect.
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