DEERFIELD - A circuit court judge in Lake County, Illinois granted an injunction this week against the Chicago suburb of Deerfield, blocking the village from enforcing a ban on so-called “assault weapons.”
The village previously said those with prohibited "assault weapons" would need to remove them from municipal limits before June 13.
The Second Amendment Foundation, which joined the lawsuit with the Illinois State Rifle Association and Deerfield resident Daniel Easterday, declared the decision a "victory."
SAF says the 2013 law amended state statute to declare “the regulation of the possession or ownership of assault weapons are exclusive powers and functions of this State. Any ordinance or regulation, or portion of that ordinance or regulation, that purports to regulate the possession or ownership of assault weapons in a manner that is inconsistent with this Act, shall be invalid…”
“We moved swiftly to challenge this gun ban because it flew in the face of state law,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “The village tried to disguise its extremism as an amendment to an existing ordinance. The ordinance bans possession of legally-owned semi-auto firearms, with no exception for guns previously owned, or any provision for self-defense.
“Worse, still,” he added, “the ordinance also provided for confiscation and destruction of such firearms and their original capacity magazines. It was outrageous that the ban would levy fines of up to $1,000 a day against anyone who refused to turn in their gun and magazines or move them out of the village. This certainly puts the lie to claims by anti-gunners that ‘nobody is coming to take your guns.’”
Plaintiffs were represented by Glen Ellyn attorney David Sigale.
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