December 4, 2023
I’m pretty sure that, when the Founding Fathers ratified the Second Amendment, they weren’t contemplating home ownership of semiautomatic weapons that can fire 600 rounds per minute. But some people take a different view.
What will the Supreme Court say?
Seven people were killed and dozens more wounded at a massacre at an Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Illinois in 2022. You’ll be forgiven if you’ve forgotten that particular mass shooting; there have been hundreds since. In any event, in response to that particular tragedy, Illinois enacted the Protect Illinois Communities Act, which banned the sale and distribution of many kinds of high-powered semiautomatic “assault weapons,” including AK-47 and AR-15 rifles, as well as magazines that take more than 10 rounds for long guns and 15 rounds for handguns.
The National Association for Gun Rights, which touts itself as a group that accepts “no compromise on the issue of gun control,” is challenging the law. The organization previously asked the U.S. Supreme Court to issue a preliminary injunction against the ban, but the Court denied the request. Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit upheld the constitutionality of the statute, so the matter is likely headed up the judicial ladder.
I am not very good at predicting the future, so I have no idea what the Supreme Court might do with it. I can, however, look at the past. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 627 mass shootings in the United States so far this year.