- By Cole Lauterbach | The Center Square
- #sbalich #twill #tcot #eyesrightopen #leadright #maga #guns #constitution #2ndamendment #Illinois
A federal lawsuit could force Illinois to enact even tougher gun laws.
U.S. District Court Judge Joan Gottschall dismissed an attempt by the state to dismiss Powell v. State of Illinois last month.
The case was filed last year by the representatives of children in some of Chicago’s most crime-stricken neighborhoods, saying they experienced post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, in a demographically more significant way than others in the state. This, the plaintiffs say, is a violation of the American with Disabilities Act as well as the Illinois Civil Rights Act.
“Forty percent of the guns recovered on crime scenes on the streets of Chicago are traced to Illinois gun dealers,” said Tom Johnson, the Chicago-based lawyer representing the plaintiffs. “Those gun dealers have been, and continue to be, unregulated.”
The Illinois gun dealer licensing law, currently in the process of being implemented by Illinois State Police, placed some of the nation’s most stringent requirements on licensed firearms sellers.
The state asked the judge last week to dismiss the case since lawmakers passed the Firearm Dealer License Certification Act, satisfying a number of the plaintiff’s requests in their initial suit.
“The discussion above shows that, in passing the License Certification Act and in implementing new rules under that Act, the State and the State Police have adopted precisely the kinds of rules plaintiffs are asking the Court to order through injunctive relief,” the state told Gottschall in a request.
Johnson says the new law doesn’t go far enough to satisfy his clients, even if it survives legal scrutiny brought by the Illinois State Rifle Association.
“The lawsuit seeks far more than what is in that bill,” he said. “We’d like to see [the judge] require the state police come up with a meaningful plan of regulations.”
Gun dealers, who are increasingly closing up shop rather than complying with the coming law, say the federal claim of disability is a bit of a stretch.
“We’ve already had the 7th [Circuit Court of Appeals] say that you can’t have a prohibition on gun shops,” said Todd Vandermyde, with the Federal Firearms Licensees of Illinois. “It seems like they just don’t like certain businesses and they’re looking for some measure to try to run these guys out of business.”
Vandermyde says the newest licensing act passed in January could be “turned on its head” if the Illinois Supreme Court rules on a case challenging the constitutionality of the Firearm Owners ID, or FOID, cards.
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled on prominent gun issues in the past, including striking down a de facto ban on gun ranges, and a broad attempt to rein in gun ownership in McDonald v. City of Chicago.
