Federal appeals court considering Illinois assault weapons ban questions ‘popularity contest’ for guns

Naperville gunshop owner Robert Bevis, who is challenging the state’s ban on assault weapons, speaks to reporters at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse. (Anthony Vazquez | Sun-Times)

Chicago’s violent gangland history came to the forefront Thursday as three federal appellate judges confronted lawyers challenging Illinois’ ban on assault weapons, passed in the wake of the mass shooting in Highland Park that is nearing its one-year anniversary.

Judges Frank Easterbrook, Diane Wood and Michael Brennan tussled with the argument that a U.S. Supreme Court decision last summer — and the Second Amendment itself — forbids governments from banning weapons that are “in common use.”