The nation's high court on Tuesday turned away a much-anticipated legal challenge to a state's recent ban on popular semi-auto rifles and their standard capacity magazines.
The U.S. Supreme Court this week turned down a petition to hear the case of Dane Harrel v. Kwame Raoul, Attorney General of Illinois, which was filed over the new "assault weapon" ban signed into law in the Land of Lincoln. The controversial law, passed largely along party lines inside a gutted proposal to regulate insurance adjusters, was signed in 2023 by Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat who was backed for office by former President Obama and a host of national anti-gun groups.
While legal challenges from 2A groups and pro-gun advocates were immediately filed once the law hit the books, the ban was upheld at the district court level and by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, setting the stage for the Supreme Court.
For the high court to act on an application, at least four of the nine Justices are required to agree to grant certiorari on a case, and in notes to Tuesday's orders it appears just one – Samuel Alito – favored taking on Harrel v Raoul as-is. Justice Clarence Thomas, meanwhile, took the rare step of delivering a three-page statement with the orders bemoaning the ban.
"According to the Seventh Circuit, the rifle selected by millions of Americans for self-defense and other lawful purposes does not even fall within the scope of the 'Arms' referred to by the Second Amendment," said Thomas, going on later to reiterate, "It is difficult to see how the Seventh Circuit could have concluded that the most widely owned semiautomatic rifles are not 'Arms' protected by the Second Amendment."
The National Shooting Sports Foundation has pointed out there are over 28.1 million modern sporting rifles like the AR-15 in circulation today, along with over 1 billion detachable magazines. By comparison, it is believed that only some 16 million Ford F-150s – America's most common pickup truck – are on the road.
"We are disappointed the U.S. Supreme Court chose not to accept this challenge at this time to what is clearly an unconstitutional law," said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel. “The Modern Sporting Rifle – or AR-15-style rifle – is the most popular-selling centerfire rifle in America, used for lawful purposes every day. That includes recreational target shooting, hunting, and self-defense. These rifles are clearly ‘Arms’ that are protected by the Second Amendment for law-abiding citizens to keep and bear."
Banner image: An Anderson AM15 Dissy at play. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
