Illinois Loses Appeal of Halted Gun Control Law

The state of Illinois lost an appeal on Tuesday after a lower court judge issued a restraining order on a newly enacted ban on some semiautomatic rifles as well as high-capacity magazines.Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the gun control law on Jan. 10, which bans the sale and distribution of assault weapons, high capacity magazines, and switches, which went into effect immediately after he approved it.Effingham County Judge Joshua Morrison issued a temporary restraining order against the law on Jan. 24, preventing it from being enforced.Morrison’s ruling came in response to a lawsuit from four gun merchants and 850 individuals who argued that the law was enacted improperly and didn’t have proper public input, adding that the law violated the state and U.S. Constitutions equal protection clause in providing exemptions for some groups of people based on their occupation or training. For examp …