In January, Illinois joined eight other U.S. states as well as Washington, D.C., to prohibit the sale or possession of military-style weapons, driven largely by deadly mass shootings in their communities.
The Illinois State Rifle Association challenged the new law and asked the U.S. Supreme Court to postpone its implementation until the case can be heard by the lower courts. However, the Court indicated on Wednesday that Illinois can, for now, keep in place the new law that bars the sale of certain semiautomatic guns and large-capacity magazines.
The Court denied the emergency request. The law's opponents had asked the court to put the law on hold while a court challenge continues. The court did not comment and no justice publicly dissented.
In addition to banning certain weapons, many states have also considered changing gun manufacturer’s legal protections, proposing bills to roll back the legal protections for gun manufacturers and dealers that have kept the industry at arm’s length from questions of blame.
States that already have the law in place, California, New York, Delaware and New Jersey are now facing legal challenges or threats of lawsuits from national gun rights groups, in part, because the federal law passed by Congress in 2005 already gives the gun industry broad legal immunity.
Most Americans believe stronger gun laws are needed. A 2022 poll by CBS News of 1000 gun owning households, 69 percent of American women said gun laws should be stricter as did and 65 percent of white college graduates. In General, 60 percent of those polled think laws should be made covering the sales of guns and 64 percent think it is the NRA’s fault that they aren’t stricter now.
According to the site Everytown.org (Everytown for gun safety) Democrats want to prioritize six areas for safer gun laws: Better background checks, better red flag laws that keep guns from domestic abusers, the mentally ill and others; secure storage laws to keep guns out of the hands of children; laws requiring concealed carry permits and the repeal of “Stand Your Ground” laws in states that allow it and, most important, more funding for violence interrupter programs.
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