Last Friday, FFL-ILL and its co-plaintiffs filed their brief with the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in the lawsuit challenging the Illinois semi-auto and magazine ban. The case is one of four consolidated legal challenges to the Illinois laws, and briefs were also filed by the parties in each of those cases.
All of the cases challenge the constitutionality of the Illinois “assault weapons” and magazine capacity bans. These laws are unconstitutional under the Second Amendment because both modern semiautomatic rifles and the standard capacity magazines that feed them are in common use for lawful purposes, including self-defense. As such, their possession is protected by the Second Amendment under the Supreme Court's decision in the 2022 Bruen case. The District Court has agreed that the laws are unconstitutional twice. First, the trial court granted a preliminary injunction, which was overturned by the 7th Circuit and then sent back down to the District Court. A full trial, with expert witnesses, exhibits, and testimony, was then held, and the District Court again struck down the law.
The State appealed. District Court judge McGlynn’s judgment is currently stayed pending the outcome of the appeal.
With a full trial record now before it, the Seventh Circuit has another opportunity to properly apply the Heller/Bruen test and strike down these unconstitutional Illinois gun and magazine bans.
Amicus briefs are being filed this week, and the Second Amendment Law Center, along with the Second Amendment Defense & Education Coalition, is preparing one to file on Friday. You can see all of the work that has been done in this case here: https://michellawyers.com/barnett-et-al-v-raoul-et-al/
So what’s next?
Amicus briefs are due Friday, June 13th.
State files response brief June 27.
Oral arguments before the 7th Circuit sometime this summer
Decision September/October.
If we win, it is not certain that the State would appeal to SCOTUS, and if they don't, it's over.
If we lose (or if the State loses and appeals to SCOTUS) we will seek SCOTUS review, and given that the record on these cases is fully developed, which SCOTUS likes, we should be heard by SCOTUS in the 2025/26 term
SCOTUS Decision June/July 2026
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