BELLEVUE, Wash. — Nov. 8, 2024 — The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) is celebrating a huge victory in U.S. District Court in Illinois in which the court declared provisions of the Protect Illinois Communities Act (PICA) which criminalize possession of so-called “assault weapons” and “large-capacity magazines” is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. The case is known as Harrel v. Raoul.
SAF is joined by the Illinois State Rifle Association, Firearms Policy Coalition, C4 Gun Store, Marengo Guns and Dane Harrel, for whom the lawsuit is named.
In his 168-page decision, U.S. District Judge Stephen P. McGlynn, a Donald Trump appointee, wrote, “As the prohibition of firearms is unconstitutional, so is the registration scheme for assault weapons, attachments, and large-capacity magazines.”
He enjoined Illinois from enforcing the firearm registration requirements and penalties associated with the requirements of the statute.
“This is a great victory for the Second Amendment Foundation and the right to keep and bear arms,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “The gun prohibition lobby and their bought-and-paid-for politicians just suffered a big defeat.”
“Today commonsense prevailed with the finding that Illinois’ AWB and magazine capacity ban are an unconstitutional affront to the Second Amendment,” added SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut. “It is high time the Supreme Court weigh in and put finality to this issue once and for all. Our win today is a step in that direction, but our pending cert petition on this issue from Maryland provides the Court an opportunity to resolve this issue expediently without more unnecessary appeals in other cases.”