The Second Amendment Law Center is ecstatic to see an amicus brief filed by the United States on Friday evening supporting the groups challenging the Illinois "assault weapon” and magazine ban law! Our lawyers have been working with the US Department of Justice for months, encouraging them to get involved in 2A cases across the country. Second Amendment Law Center and SADEC filed their amicus brief as well on Friday, which was the deadline.
The brief from the Trump Administration is aggressive in its defense of the Second Amendment. Not only does it say AR-15s and similar firearms, as well as their magazines, are common arms that may not be banned, but the brief also argues that suppressors and all other popular attachments ought to be protected too. Significantly, the brief argues this not only based on the devices being in common-use, but also because of the “collective defense” purpose of the Second Amendment. Because of that collective purpose, the federal government rejects the Seventh Circuit's earlier ruling that guns may be banned because they are used by the military. As the brief states, "the Second Amendment's militia-related text, as interpreted by the Supreme Court. . .suggests that the government may not prohibit weapons simply because it considers them 'militaristic.' The contrary claim that 'militaristic' weapons fall outside its scope wrongly requires reading the introductory clause entirely out of the Second Amendment."
The brief thus echoes points that the Second Amendment Law Center has been making in its amicus briefs for a long time, including citations to 2ALC-backed cases. It is encouraging to see 2ALC’s analysis validated by lawyers at the US Department of Justice.
While antigun judges can ignore our amicus briefs, they will have a much harder time ignoring those arguments when they are made by the federal government. We are hopeful that the brief will help sway the panel to reach the right conclusion, and overturn its erroneous Bevis ruling. And we are grateful to have an administration in office that helps defend the Second Amendment.
This is a must-win, and litigating through CA7 and on to SCOTUS is seriously expensive. We need your support!