Second Amendment Foundation Secures Injunction Blocking Deerfield ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban

On Tuesday the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) secured an injunction blocking Deerfield, Illinois, pending “assault weapons” ban.

On April 3, 2018, Breitbart News reported that Deerfield was not only banning said weapons but empowering its chief of police to confiscate them and destroy them. He would also be empowered to confiscate and destroy “high capacity” magazines. On April 5, 2018, Breitbart News reported that SAF filed suit against Deerfield, claiming the village’s “assault weapons” ban violated Illinois’ preemption law. SAF’s lawsuit was joined by the Illinois State Rifle Association and Deerfield resident Daniel Easterday.

On June 12, 2018, a Lake County circuit judge issue an injunction, blocking Deerfield from implementing the “assault weapons” ban.

SAF founder and executive director Alan Gottlieb commented on the injunction, saying, “We moved swiftly to challenge this gun ban because it flew in the face of state law. The village tried to disguise its extremism as an amendment to an existing ordinance. The ordinance bans possession of legally-owned semi-auto firearms, with no exception for guns previously owned, or any provision for self-defense.”

Gottlieb added, “Worse, still, the ordinance also provided for confiscation and destruction of such firearms and their original capacity magazines. It was outrageous that the ban would levy fines of up to $1,000 a day against anyone who refused to turn in their gun and magazines or move them out of the village. This certainly puts the lie to claims by anti-gunners that ‘nobody is coming to take your guns.’”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.