This morning, the Illinois Gun Rights Alliance, a coalition of gun rights organizations, licensed gun dealers, gun clubs, and some of the best legal minds in Illinois have filed their answer to Governor JB Pritzker’s new gun and magazine bans in federal court.
The coalition seeks to dismantle the onerous new Illinois law that outlaws America’s favorite rifle, the AR-15, and millions of other semi-automatic rifles, shotguns, and pistols along with the magazines that feed them. The so-called “Protect Illinois Communities Act” even criminalizes possession of gun parts like flash suppressors, muzzle brakes, and collapsible stocks with felony charges.
Meanwhile, the man tasked with defending the state has had a bad run since the law passed. Beleaguered Attorney General Kwame Raoul has lost a host of high profile cases lately. Raoul’s staff failed to defend the new “No Cash Bail” provisions of the so-called SAFE-T Act at the first of the year.
Last week, a judge blocked enforcement of the new gun ban law for the 866 named plaintiffs in a state lawsuit. Meanwhile the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a ruling against gun ownership in foster homes and at home daycare facilities.
What’s more, Raoul had one of his attorneys quit early last week and then two more resigned Friday. Some will say losing three attorneys from a questionably competent government legal office constitutes a good start. However, Raoul still has about 447 lawyers on staff.
Today, in the Southern District Federal Court of Illinois, the Illinois Gun Rights Alliance (ILGRA) filed the first of likely several lawsuits aimed at dismantling J.B. Pritzker’s crown jewel of gun control, the so-called “Protect Illinois Communities Act.”
Here’s the press release.
Yorkville, IL (January 24, 2023) – Members of the Illinois Gun Rights Alliance (ILGRA) today filed a federal lawsuit challenging the recently adopted Protect Illinois Communities Act, alleging it to be an infringement on the constitutionally protected activity of Illinois sportsmen, firearms retailers, distributors, and manufacturers, and lawful users of firearms. Defendants are Governor Pritzker, Attorney General of Illinois Kwame Raoul, and Brendan H. Kelly, Director of the Illinois State Police.
Named plaintiffs in this action are:
Federal Firearms Licensees of Illinois, Inc – the Dealers’ association, Guns Save Life – an Illinois-based, grassroots gun rights organization, Gun Owners of America – a national grassroots gun rights organization, as well as three private citizens and one local dealer.
“We are, or represent, members and supporters who are law-abiding Illinois residents who seek to purchase, sell, and protect themselves, and/or their homes and families with firearms owned and in common use by millions of Americans for self-defense,” the complaint begins.
“We began with the so-called ‘Assault Weapons’ ban,” said Mandi Sano, FFL-IL spokesman. “As the Governor and General Assembly gleefully strip law-abiding Illinois retailers and gun-owners of their gun rights, property rights, and privacy, we will not stand by. We will act.”
“Our group has said all along that we will not help the State craft a ‘better bill,’ we will not provide subject-matter expertise, and that if the State wishes to read our opinions, it may do so in the complaint,” added FFL-IL President Dan Eldridge.
John Boch, Executive Director of Guns Save Life, Inc. holds that, “the so-called Protect Illinois Communities Act does nothing to actually protect Illinois communities. Its only effect is to criminalize law-abiding gun owners. The General Assembly should instead be holding criminals accountable for violent crimes.”
The measure remains broadly unpopular, sparking a surge in purchases before the Act’s effective date and drawing the opposition of more than 80 of the state’s 102 sheriffs.
“The Supreme Court has reset the table by striking down New York’s concealed carry ‘may-issue’ law and along with it magazine limits in California and New Jersey, and Maryland’s ‘assault weapons’ ban. We seek immediate state-wide relief from enforcement of this unconstitutional law and look forward to prevailing in federal court,” concluded Ms. Sano.
If that isn’t enough, two additional lawsuits have been filed in state court with Raoul’s name on them. Tom DeVore won a restraining order last week blocking enforcement of the new law for his 866 plaintiffs. He’s filed a new lawsuit with almost 1700 more plaintiffs further south in White County. That’s a five-hour drive for the AG’s team to travel.
Meanwhile, an Illinois State Representative named Dan Caulkins is organizing another lawsuit to be filed Thursday in Macon County (Decatur). Caulkins told me that DeVore has graciously allowed a Macon County litigator to use much of DeVore’s complaint for the basis of the Macon County lawsuit.
Given his dismal record so far, AG Raoul may well contract with a law firm that actually employs competent attorneys to defend the State of Illinois and their unconstitutional limits on a fundamental civil right. Given the rule of law and the Bruen precedent, that will be about as tough as defending school segregation after Brown v. Board of Education.
As all of this happens in real time, Governor Pritzker’s plan to hold himself up as a wise and able statesman who’s destined for higher office hasn’t gone as planned. Instead it has only mobilized gun owners, sheriffs, and states attorneys against the governor and his new gun control law.
Instead of looking like a viable presidential candidate who can get things done, the Governor looks more like a feckless blow-hard surrounded by incompetents as his signature gun control measure crumbles before his eyes.
they knew.
we pay.
Awesome. Keep slammin’ them.
I just gave more quid to FPC and SAF.
I hope they were assault quid!
Another product of Affirmative Action.
Illinois, along with their fellow travelers, NY, NJ, MD, CA, HI, CO and a few other idiot “blue” states, know full well that their “assault weapons bans” are unconstitutional horses***, and . . . they don’t care. They get to do what ALL Leftist/fascists do (MinorLiar, dacian the demented, are you listening???), lie, virtue signal, and fight a losing holding action against rationality and the Constitution (both of which they hate). Sure, EVENTUALLY it will get to SCOTUS, and SCOTUS will rule against them (very tepidly) . . . probably around five to seven years from now. Assuming, of course, that the Leftist/fascists don’t succeed in ‘packing the court’ before then.
For any rational people remaining in those rapidly-failing socialist states, the handwriting has been on the wall for some time, now. Get. The. Eff. Out. The rest of us are tired of fighting your battles for you. California will be a one party, Leftist state until it crashes and burns, and MAYBE that will engendered some rationality . . . but probably not.
The good news is, while the ‘blue states’ are getting bluer, most red states are getting redder (not all, but most). I’ll watch from afar as my old state (KKKalifornia) circles the drain and eventually goes down it, like all turds that get flushed. Be interesting to see what rises in its place. Illinois (at least the Chiraq part), NY, NJ, MD, et al., will be close behind.
Lemme hear Senile Joe tell us ONE MORE TIME how “Milton Friedman isn’t in charge, anymore”. That’s pure comedy gold, (P(Resident Pedophile.
Fleeing the states is not the answer.
The more states the monster gobbles up the more powerful it becomes until you have no place to run.
True! New York may have had a Republican Gov if not for those fleeing.
Can’t be sure but the loss of 65,000? Conservatives certainly didn’t help.
Not everyone who leaves is a conservative of any stripe. Many are good Democrat voters fleeing the scene of their crime and they will cheerfully spread their disease anywhere they go. There’s a reason for the cliche of Californians in Texas.
“good Democrat voters”
No such thing…
I left NY a little less than two years ago.
It was the answer.
I have one life to live, and I refuse to live it under the thumb of the socialist monsters who control NY. Gun laws. Confiscatory taxes. Overregulation. State Insolvency. Grocery bag bans (seriously?). Woke mandates. Public support for abortion. Spiraling crime rates. An overwhelming majority of citizens who actually LIKE and WANT all this stuff? Forget it.
there are other reasons to leave Illinois. the state’s pension liability, for instance.
No one,
And that is exactly PART of the problem. If you think Illinois has a pension problem, research CalPERS. If the “unfunded liabilities” of the CalPers system were included in the California budget, the deficit would be in the trillions. They have completely f***ed the state’s water system, destroyed the power grid, destroyed the once-world-class California agriculture industry, and have the greatest wealth disparity of any state. Medical is more bankrupt than Medicare. NY has similar pension and health care issues, and severe budget problems. Blue states are killing themselves, and the only question is how fast they reach bottom (and how long does Senile Joe, and whichever Dimocrat puppet ends up as the next Dim president, decide to try to subsidize their idiocy).
Leftism is a disease, or perhaps a parasite, in that it inevitably kills either itself, or its host.
Lamp remarkably the NY pension is actually funded and outside of current stagflation actually improving slightly as The retirement tier 1 slowly dies out and tier 6 increasingly becomes a larger percentage of the system as they pay substantially more in. With that said it would only take an irresponsible comptroller to tank the investments in the system on woke investing nonsense but another day another issue on that one. Still wild that the last I read we were only beat out by one of the Dakotas re fully funded pension. Not sure about New York city though……….
Lamp,
“destroyed the once-world-class California agriculture industry”
I absolutely despise Pelosi and Feinstein for what they did to the central valley. Not only did they year after year limit the ranchers and farmers water supply the last straw was taking land from them for a massively failed train to nowhere. DIAFUB’S
possum,
Reasonable minds can differ. I am convinced (I believe with MORE than ample evidence) that the “blue state model” is killing itself even more quickly than I believed possible (I underestimated the extent of their stupidity). I’d rather not be around for when that wagonload of s*** hits the bottom of the canyon. California is a beautiful state; perhaps after all the illegal immigrants have killed and eaten all the stupid rich b******s in Silicon Valley (for lack of any alternative source of food), rational people can reoccupy the land.
While I despise any spread of the “blue state model”, a simple look at reality shows that the deepest and longest blue states are all in accelerating death dives. I’m content to wait until they crash and burn, and I’d rather wait among rational folks . . . ya know, folks who actually know what a woman is?
Yes I do.
Speaking of moving We have not heard a word out of Hound Dog Dave since he moved to Missouri, I think it was Mo. might have been Arkansas.
A lot of Californians are moving to Missouri, hope they dont fuck it all up. Seems they have a tendency to do that though.
Texas I’m afraid is lost, between the interstate immigration and the south of the boarder take over it wont be long until it’s a big shit hole too.
Part of the issue of fleeing states is democrats just bring their core values with them.
Years ago in Indiana there was a billboard that said “We vote Republican so if you are moving here the please keep it that way or move somewhere else” or something very similar to that wording.
I moved out of Cook county 25 years ago to a county that was pure RED. Now that county is light blue and it happened fast, it was pink after W, quickly turned pink to a very light blue and now a darker shade of blue.
The Dems fleeing their crime ridden areas brought their Dem views with them. I do have put part of the blame on the Republicans, they really didn’t run qualified candidates against some of the Dems in the midterms and could have cleaned house because Madigan wasn’t giving millions to their reelection campaigns. My county went from solid red and now the entire county board is blue.
These people don’t understand that if you vote for the same old nonsense that you fled that eventually you are going to end up with the same problems that you fled from.
Add a rich megalomaniac lazy Governor to the mix and it just gets much worse.
If it weren’t for the morons in Boulder and Denver Colorado would be just fine. Maybe if farmers and ranchers were able to survive just supporting each other we could starve out the cities. Let them fi out ground beef doesn’t grow on a store shelf.
Thanks for the good work Boch & compatriots!
Defending an obviously losing position because of hard-headed ideological positions is fine when taxpayers aren’t writing the checks. When they are writing the checks it becomes straight up theft.
Sort of like NYC officials wanting billions more in OT hours for their PD in a futile attempt to control problems they themselves caused.
I’m under the distinct impression that the only people left putting any effort into this world are the thieves and grifters. Everyone else is just waiting for death or too oblivious to notice.
“When they are writing the checks it becomes straight up theft.”
The smartest thing to do is to make sure the conservative challengers beat the drum as loudly and long as possible as to just how much their little pissy-fit cost the tax payers.
Bring up how much of it cost them real money that they would have available if they didn’t pull that stunt…
“Bring up how much of it cost them real money that they would have available if they didn’t pull that stunt…“
Good idea!
“DeSantis used taxpayer money to fly migrants to Florida, then fly them out
Documents show a purchasing officer with the Florida Department of Transportation had questions.
Documents released this week by the aviation company that helped manage Florida’s $12 million migrant relocation program shed new light on behind-the-scenes dealings as the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis, working with the politically connected vendor, wriggled around a requirement that Florida use the money to export Florida migrants — not those living in some other state“
https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2022/11/02/how-desantis-used-taxpayer-money-fly-migrants-florida-then-fly-them-out/?outputType=amp
Ticket price paid once vs social services benefits paid regularly……..yeah thinking he is coming out ahead on that one bub.
“he is coming out ahead on that one bub“
So the governor of Florida uses Florida taxpayer funds to fly to Texas, pick up immigrants, fly them to Florida, then fly them to Massachusetts and he’s coming out ahead?
Looks like the taxpayers in Florida just paid several million dollars in a political stunt for Governor DeSantis.
Meanwhile, New York Republicans just elected an illegal immigrant from Brazil who fled his ‘shit hole’ country to avoid prosecution, Now he’s a Member of Congress.
You are absolutely correct, these “immigrants” should not have been flown to another state. They should have been taken 15 miles off-shore and dumped in the ocean. Still some cost associated with it, but hey, no free lunch, right?
Lol Texas last I saw Massachusetts New York and other “sanctuary” cities and states were the final destination but if Texas also keeps them moving to progressive utopias that totally have the resources to care for them and back up their virtue signaling then what is the problem with net savings to Florida taxpayers?
MINOR Miner49er Who cares?
Cool story, bro!!! Now do Senile Joe and his midnight flights to red states, you f***ing lying hypocrite. Go suck-start a shotgun, you lying propagandist of a Leftist/fascist.
“They should have been taken 15 miles off-shore and dumped in the ocean“
Yep, your typical right wing conservative Christian republican, ready to murder people for the crime of border crossing.
I’m sure Jesus is very proud of you.
Ahhhhhh,,, America, land of the free. As long as you’ve got the money and the lawyers.
Hey quick question: Where is the NRA on what’s going on in Illinois?
The NRA has no dog in this fight.
“The National Rifle Association (NRA) and other pro-Second Amendment organizations filed a lawsuit today challenging the Illinois law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker that bans commonly owned firearms and magazines.” — NRA-ILA News, 01/24/2023
NRA riding the “COAT TAILS” again!!!!
thank you, NRA bot…
*Pokes with a stick
“Do something!”
The NRA is doing something, they showed up with a box full of bumper stickers that say NRA in Springfield. It helps the gangbangers out, now they know what vehicles to break into.
Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.
The NRA-ILA statement is vague at best, oh wait it’s plaintiffs are a trade association so at least they have money.
Wayne and his lackeys need new clothes so the NRA decided to get involved.
At least Boch and friends are fighting for 2A Rights and not profit.
“Where is the NRA on what’s going on in Illinois?”
It took me 5 seconds to access the NRA-ILA website and right at the top, dated yesterday when you asked the question, I found the news release.
You call me a “bot” because I found the answer? Too bad.
You didn’t like the answer? So sad.
Don’t get butthurt Craig…
You are a bot because you are an NRA simp. I’m willing to bet the meeting went like this:
“How many others have filed already? Holy shit, we should probably act like are doing something!”
“You are a bot because you are an NRA simp.”
Because I went to their site and quoted a news release? You don’t say.
“I’m willing to bet …”
Assuming facts not in evidence. Hey, you want to hate on the NRA, you be you. Be my guest.
It’s a free country — until the boxcars arrive.
Ok Craig. Ok.
At least if you are going to shitpost under a fake name, don’t post on other articles immediately after using your normal one lmfao.
And yes, because you went to their site and simped for them. That’s kinda the point. Keep your NRA bumper sticker and keep fighting the good fight in IA.
If you Googled it the first whole page led you to the NRA-ILA website. There were a whole page of results and all of them were the NRA-ILA website.
If the NRA wants to be a player then they have to actually file their own suit, I had do some digging to see IF the NRA actually “had a dog in the fight” hence “The NRA-ILA statement is vague at best” but then I saw that they actually were in the background of somebody else’s lawsuit.
The National Rifle Association (NRA)
“AND other pro-Second Amendment organizations filed a lawsuit today”
I eagerly await for them to mess this lawsuit up with a compromise, they aren’t in it for the people of Illinois 2A rights but a trade group.
When “the boxcars arrive” I would like to see who is in the locomotive, It will probably be Wayne LaPierre in a new suit and diaper.
I looked into the NRAs attorney:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-lZYqCnEXA
Who the hell is Craig and what does he have to do with my posts?
Time to start prosecuting these officials under 18 U.S.C. Section 242. Let them spend some time in jail personally for their deliberate attempts to violate civil rights.
AH HA HA HA HA!!!!! I wish…
Sorry to say we can’t. They enjoy discretionary immunity. We can’t touch them legally. All we can do is vote them out.
“Sorry to say we can’t. They enjoy discretionary immunity.”
Florida cured that awhile back by making whoever passed that law to be personally liable for massive fines…
“They have discretionary immunity.”
No. There’s no discretionary immunity for state actors who violate federal constitutional rights. They have *qualified* immunity, which doesn’t apply when the law is reasonably clear.
There was also an excellent post recently over at the Volokh Conspiracy ( https://reason.com/volokh/2023/01/17/should-loopholing-be-protected-by-qualified-immunity/) articulating the argument that qualified immunity does not apply to “loopholing” behavior, where the state actors know what the law is but are deliberately trying to evade it or find “loopholes.” If it turns out their asserted “loophole” isn’t in fact one, no QI.
In NY and NJ (and I suspect Illinois, but haven’t seen the evidence), the politicos were explicitly slamming Bruen and vowing to resist/evade it. Actions taken to do so appear to be facial violations of section 1983 and possibly 1985. Hopefully the FPC and other groups suing to overturn these laws will add claims for damages against these folks under these theories.
I will say it’s worth noting that the lawsuit is going after police carve outs under the equal protection clause. I very very much like that. I hope that one hits the federal books in our favor, I want to see SWAT Teams in NY using NYS compliant ARs.
“I will say it’s worth noting that the lawsuit is going after police carve outs under the equal protection clause.”
Fantastic. It sure would be hilarious if that hit the SCotUS with Thomas on the bench.
He’d love to give the 2A the respect it deserves… 🙂
“Given the rule of law and the Bruen precedent, that will be about as tough as defending school segregation after Brown v. Board of Education.”
That’s a GREAT sound bite!
This reminds me of the old joke: What’s a thousand lawyers at the bottom of the ocean? A good start! Of course, that doesn’t apply when you need one to fight the bad ones.
My lawyer helped me gain custody of my niece for a steep price. He was well worth it.
Also skid marks in front of a snake… but not the ambulance chaser!
The end result will this law stating law and being kept in full. No court wants to strike down an AWB. The AWB could have door to door confiscation and the literal mandated immediate execution without trial of every person in the state that owns one of those guns along with the mandated execution without trial of quite literally the entire population of Illinois in a home with a gun if they oppose of resist their family members being murdered by the state. Even if the law made it so that the state of Illinois can lawfully kill every single person in the state that actively opposes or resists that.
For the courts overall an AWB must NEVER be struck down anywhere as it would set a precedent for the other ones to be as well. And would kill any federal law that may someday pass in the future before it’s born.
It must be upheld at all cost even if the cost is literally the complete and total extermination of all human life in the United States. Minus themselves of course. The democrat party only has one goal and desire when it comes to guns: the literal complete and total band of all guns and all private gun ownership with the literal mandated extermination of every single solitary gun owner in the country along with the complete and total mandated extermination of every single person in the United States in a home with a gun along with the entire literal genocide of the entire population of the United States that opposes that in any way shape or form up to and if need be the literal extermination of all human life in the United States except for Democrat politicians. They WILL not let this happen. The judges will be appropriately bribed and/or threatened and the law will stay in full.
This is just a temporary reprieve from the inevitable.
I think Judge Benitez would beg to differ . . . .
He is a singular judge. Not an overall court. Also he is a judge on the ninth circuit. The most hostile court to gun rights.
And while the courts in Illinois aren’t exactly are Ninth Circuit where the majority of the judges there would love the complete and total mandated extermination of all gun owners and most would also approve of the deployment of nuclear weapons to do it and the killing of the entire population of the United States that opposes even that one has to understand that the court system overall hate guns. They hate private gun ownership. They hate the Second Amendment. They hate gun owners and want gun owners dead. The only reasons they rule in the ways they do is because they are now being forced to because of previous decisions or they know that they’re going to get struck down and a higher court for the same reason. So they’re doing it in spite of it or out of fear. Or a combination of both
This is a good start to repeal the bans on firearms and magazines, but the main goal of all of this should be the full repeal of the FOID in Illinois. We don’t hear much about the repeal of the FOID for us living in Illinois. I just hope it will be the next item to move through the courts.
people in the rest of the country just shake their heads when viewing that idiotic system….
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