Dupage Policy Journal

The National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) has added the state of Illinois to its complaint against Naperville’s ordinance outlawing several types of firearms. 

The amended complaint comes on the heels of the state-wide assault weapons ban signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Jan. 10. 

“We were already suing Naperville and Highland Park over their gun bans, so amending our complaint to put the state law at issue in our case against Naperville was a no-brainer,” Dudley Brown, president of the National Association for Gun Rights, said in a press release.

The Naperville City Council in August 2022 voted 8-1, to amend the city code to prohibit the sale of assault rifles effective Jan. 1. The NAGR amended its lawsuit against the municipality to include the state which passed its own ban in early January, The Center Square reported. The law bans over 170 types of firearms. As many as five million firearms and 10 million magazines in the state have been banned under the law.

The lawsuit versus Naperville comes after the municipality’s gun ban ordinance. “Naperville’s ban on assault rifle sales is in limbo until a federal judge decides if it can go into effect or should be shelved until the legal challenge from (Robert) Bevis and the gun rights group is decided in court. In a Dec. 9 order, the city agreed not to enforce the ordinance until U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall issues a ruling,” the Chicago Tribune wrote. Robert Bevis, owner of Law Weapons & Supply, is a plaintiff in the lawsuit. “We are very confident we’ll get a restraining order,” he said.

The 5th District Court of Appeals upheld Effingham County Judge Joshua Morrison’s ruling noting the law's unconstitutionality and issued a temporary restraining order. That means the restrictions brought about by the Protect Illinois Communities Act will not be applied to the 866 plaintiffs represented by Greenville attorney Thomas DeVore until it can be heard in court. In the wake of the Effingham County challenge, nearly 1,700 additional plaintiffs have signed onto the legal action. “We will see if the state wants to appeal. If not, we’ll work on getting this pursued to a final ruling so we can get to the merits of these issues, sooner rather than later,” DeVore, last year’s GOP candidate for attorney general, told The Center Square.