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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Hallie Golden

Federal appeals court upholds Illinois ban on semiautomatic weapons, overturning lower-court ruling

Illinois Weapons Ban - (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld an Illinois ban on semiautomatic weapons, keeping in place a law passed largely in response to a deadly Independence Day parade shooting.

The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit overturns a lower court decision that found the ban unconstitutional. The 2-1 appellate decision found that the Illinois law does not violate the Second Amendment, and its restrictions are “consistent with the principles that underpin our Nation’s tradition of firearm regulation.”

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