The Idaho Attorney General has joined with the Attorney General of Indiana and 26 other state AGs or Legislatures to file an amicus brief in the case of Bevis v City of Naperville.
On November 22, 2023, the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit denied the petition for an injunction pending appeal to en banc review or for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court. On December 20, the request for an en banc hearing is denied. On March 8, 2024, a petition asking for a stay of proceedings pending a Supreme Court appeal is granted.
The case focuses on whether the State of Illinois has the power to ban an entire class of semi-automatic firearms.
From the press release by Idaho AG Labrador:
Attorneys General Raúl Labrador of Idaho and Todd Rokita of Indiana led 26 other states in filing a brief with the United States Supreme Court challenging Illinois’ unconstitutional ban of AR-15 rifles and their standard 30-round magazines.
“This ruling from the Seventh Circuit flies in the face of the Bruen decision and the Second Amendment’s unqualified command,” said Attorney General Labrador. “To restrict an inanimate object based on nothing more than cosmetic appearance is absurd, and the Supreme Court needs to make this right with all expediency.”
The Seventh Circuit’s decision in Barnett v. Raoul found the Illinois gun ban constitutional, holding that the plain language of the Second Amendment and the term “Arms” does not apply to AR-15s because of their militaristic appearance. The Seventh Circuit’s decision lacks any textual or historical basis. In fact, the arms the Second Amendment originally protected were those used in military combat. The Seventh Circuit’s analysis bears no resemblance to the analysis prescribed by the Supreme Court of the United States.
The brief asks the Supreme Court to grant certiorari and correct the Seventh Circuit’s erroneous decision, arguing that “[e]ven apart from having no basis in the text of the Second Amendment, the Seventh Circuit’s artificial divide between “militaristic” firearms and firearms used for self-defense is indefensible.”
The 26 other states joining Idaho and Indiana are:
Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming, and the State Legislatures of Arizona and Wisconsin.
Astute observers may notice an amazing overlap between this list and states that are members of the Constitutional Carry (permitless) club. In the above list, there are only two states that are not Constitutional Carry or permitless club members. They are Virginia and Wisconsin. Maine and Vermont are the only Constitutional Carry (permitless) states that did not join the amicus brief.
Such amicus briefs are becoming more common. At stake are two visions of how the Constitution is to be regarded.
The governments of Idaho, Indiana, and roughly 26 other states generally subscribe to the ideology the Constitution is a contract between the population, the States, and the federal government. The contract should be interpreted as it was understood to be at the time the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were ratified.
Approximately 18-20 other state governments have a different vision of the Constitution. In this vision, the Constitution of 1787 (Bill of Rights in 1791) is/are outdated. The interpretation of the Constitution should be by Progressives who look to bend Constitutional provisions to their understanding of what is best for the Country based on the current situation.
These two visions are not necessarily in conflict. In practice, they are nearly always in conflict. The vision of those who wish to exert power over the population and concentrate it in the federal government runs directly contrary to the structure of the Constitution as written, with its checks and balances, division of power, and limitation on the power of the federal and state governments.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
We can Talk and Debate about this all day long, but in the Real World, our only two PEACEFUL recourses to-date are the courts and the Republicans in D.C.
The Left knows that the Court system is a lumbering, painfully slow process and they employ that to their advantage,
As for D.C. Republicans,
well,
their inability to get-their-sh_t-together doesn’t help Law Abiding Citizens at all.
Correction: Arizona is Constitutional Carry and did not join the amicus brief.
The arms the 2nd amendment originally and STILL protects from government interference are those used in military combat. There is no discernible distinction between arms used for self defense and those used in combat. From bolt action sniper or deer rifles to full auto machine guns, we the People of the US are entitled to all the terrible implements of war! The government is expressly PROHIBITED from infringing on our right to keep and bear any arms we deem appropriate. From building, buying, possessing, to carrying, transporting and using, the gov has NO AUTHORITY to interfere, ban, limit or restrict.
Waiver of Confidentiality: I understand that I am required to personally complete this Firearm Concealed Carry Act License application and by submitting said application, I waive all of my privacy and confidentiality rights and privileges under all federal and state laws, including those limiting access to juvenile court, criminal justice, psychological, or psychiatric records or any records relating to my institutionalization. Further, I authorize the Illinois State Police to use the digital photo, demographic information and signature from my Illinois Driver’s License or State Identification to create my FCCA License and authorize the Illinois State Police to share my information as… Read more »
This one should be easy. I hope they don’t cave in on some aspects of the case that they do not hold important, such as military weapons being covered under the 2nd Amendment.
HLB
I am confused. I thought that Bruen made all states go shall issue and that is why the ass governor from kommiefornia and the dumb bitch from NY are making sensitive areas all over their states? Did I miss something? I love the line that AR’s look to militaristic so that is why they should not apply to the second and then the statement “in fact the 2nd amendment was written for guns in use by the military at the time”. That is just to precious. LMAO. I love a smart argument. Trump 2024: end the democrat disease ruling over… Read more »
Look, the entire legal system is corrupted, it is filled with hypocrisies and hypocrites, therefor it is irrelevant, incompetent and immaterial to life and our living of it! All day long I can show these facts to be true, but they just get ignored all day long too!
But do you feel strongly about this? 😉