Supreme Court Won't Hear Appeal to Highland Park's Weapons Ban

The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear an appeal to the city of Highland Park’s ban on certain assault weapons.

The court made the call not to hear the litigation Monday morning, according to a city news release.

When Illinois amended its concealed carry law in 2013, municipalities had a 10-day window in which they could enact a weapons ban and Highland Park did so, passing an ordinance prohibiting the possession, sale, or manufacture of certain military-style weapons and large capacity magazines. The City later amended the ordinance to create exceptions for qualified retired law enforcement officers and owners of curios or relics that are safely stored.

The Illinois Rifle Association sought out a Highland Park resident to challenge the city’s decision and found Arie Friedman, a Highland Park resident and Lincolnshire pediatrician, according to the Daily North Shore.

A U.S. District Court ruled in September of 2014 that the law did not violate the Second Amendment, as claimed by Friedman and the Rifle Association. They then took the matter to the 7th District U.S. States Court of Appeals, where the district lower court decision was affirmed in April.

Richard Pearson, the executive director of the rifle association, told the DNS Monday’s Supreme Court decision was a blip in the road.

“We’ll continue the litigation with the next case,” he said. “We’re not quitting.” An ongoing case in the Illinois state courts challenging a similar law passed by the Cook County Board is still open, he noted.

But the city describes the Supreme Court’s action as “a resounding victory for the City of Highland Park and the safety of its residents.”

“We are pleased that the 7th Circuit decision to uphold Highland Park’s right to take reasonable steps to protect our citizens from particularly dangerous firearms has been preserved,” said Mayor Nancy Rotering. “Banning assault weapons and large capacity magazines is a common sense step to reducing gun violence and protecting our children, our law enforcement and our communities from potential mass violence and grief.”

While City Attorney Steven M. Elrod supervised the original litigation defense strategy, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence secured the Perkins Coie law firm to represent the city for free.