(The Center Square) – Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker appeared to concede that his and Democratic lawmakers’ ban on a wide variety of semi-automatic handguns and rifles has a less than 50-50 chance of surviving in the federal court system.
During a discussion the governor’s office said was about “gun violence prevention” at Temple Jeremiah in Northfield Thursday, Pritzker was asked about the chances his ban on certain semi-automatic firearms and magazines survives a challenge in the federal courts.
“It is not zero chance and it is not, you know, 30% chance, I think it’s better than that that we will win,” Pritzker said. “I don’t know what percent to put on it. I just think we have a pretty good argument.”
Gun owners continue to wait for an opinion from the federal appeals court on the challenge against the state’s gun and magazine ban. It’s unclear when those will be issued, but the federal case is expected to go to the U.S. Supreme Court either way.
Defending the law, the Illinois Attorney General argues the ban is constitutional by restricting “dangerous and unusual” firearms. Gun rights advocates point to a separate ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court last year that says governments cannot ban commonly owned firearms and courts must evaluate gun control laws using the text and history of the Second Amendment.
To one question asked about implementing “extreme” taxation on ammunition, Pritzker said that would be shut down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The effectiveness of the Second Amendment they would say would be nullified and again there may be people who think that we should nullify the Second Amendment, but not the Supreme Court today,” Pritzker said.
Regardless, Pritzker pushed for a national ban.
“Where is this all going? We need to make sure that people are appointed to the Supreme Court who are going to do the right thing,” Pritzker said.
During Thursday’s discussion, Pritzker suggested more can be done, including requiring firearms to be locked up inside private residences.
“And this is one way for us to demand and ask people to do the right thing and keep them safe in their own homes,” Pritzker said.
He also suggested monitoring routes to other states where drivers may be suspected of buying firearms to possibly traffic them in Illinois.
“We can, with a variety of technology and other things, you know, make a reasonable guess, and again you know, using only probable cause and other things to pull them over, but we have to do more of this,” Pritzker said. “We just have to.”
Gun rights advocates say policymakers should focus on going after criminals rather than what they say are regulations on the rights of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms.
