Illinois’ gun ban set for oral arguments in appeals court Monday

By Greg Bishop | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – The state of Illinois will be defending its gun and magazine ban Monday in front of the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

The 2023 law was found unconstitutional last year by the Southern District of Illinois federal court. Plaintiffs sued, saying the government is prohibited from banning commonly owned firearms. The state and gun control advocates argue the ban addresses dangerous and unusual firearms and societal concerns over mass shootings.

Attending the 2025 Zombie Shoot at Aurora Sportsman’s Club in Waterman, Paul Hunsicker of Lindinhurst said he hopes the law gets struck down.

“Well, I hope it gets squashed like a bug,” Hunsicker told The Center Square. “I’m tired of having my Second amendment rights restricted. And, you know, I want to be able to exercise my constitutional freedoms like everywhere else in the country.”

Hunsicker said from what he’s seen, not many people are complying with the law.

“You talk to people about, you know, who registered items, whether it’s magazines or rifles or high capacity, you know, pistol mags or anything like that, you probably come away with about, zero,” he said.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker enacted the ban on more than 170 semi-automatic firearms and magazines over certain capacities.

Anibal Amezquita from Maywood also attended the recent Zombie Shoot at Aurora Sportsman’s Club. He said the law doesn’t impact criminals.

“Criminals are always going to be criminals,” Amezquita told The Center Square. “Laws or not, they’re going to do whatever they want and, those who want to do the right thing the right way, end up being held back from doing what we would like to do, to doing what our Constitution should allow us to do.”

The U.S. Department of Justice under the Trump administration plans to present five minutes of oral arguments on the side of the plaintiffs and against the state’s law. The case will be heard by the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Monday in Chicago.