SPRINGFIELD — An Illinois appellate court on Tuesday upheld a downstate judge’s decision to temporarily block Illinois’ recently enacted ban on high-powered weapons and high-capacity magazines from being enforced on more than 850 people and a handful of licensed gun dealers named as plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the ban.
The state’s 5th District Appellate Court agreed with Effingham County Judge Joshua Morrison’s finding that the ban violated the state constitution’s equal protection clause. Morrison’s ruling was based on a lawsuit filed by attorney Thomas DeVore, a Republican who made an unsuccessful bid for attorney general last year.
But the appellate court rejected other aspects of Morrison’s Jan. 20 decision, including that the ban violated the Illinois Constitution’s due process clause and the constitutional procedures for legislation.
