Well, it didn’t take very long for the lawsuit to happen
(Washington Times) Gun-rights advocates on Thursday sued an Illinois village over its new ban on military-style semiautomatic “assault†rifles and high capacity ammunition magazines, saying the ordinance not only stops purchases but could lead to confiscations.
The ban passed by the Deerfield Village Board earlier this week “flies in the face of state law,†said Alan M. Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, which sued along with the Illinois State Rifle Association and a Deerfield resident.
John Boch, president of Illinois-based Guns Save Life, also vowed to file a lawsuit.
“We are going to fight this ordinance, which clearly violates our member’s constitutional rights, and with the help of the NRA, I believe we can secure a victory for law-abiding gun owners in and around Deerfield,†he said. (snip)
The new lawsuit Thursday says the village is breaking state law, which allows for amendments to previous ordinances. The lawsuit says the outright ban goes far beyond an amendment.
“While the village is trying to disguise this as an amendment to an existing ordinance, it is, in fact, a new law that entirely bans possession of legally owned semi-auto firearms, with no exception for guns previously owned, or any provision for self-defense,â€Â Mr. Gottlieb said.
The question here is, does the city of Deerfield back down and repeal their new law, or will they fight? I guess that depends as to whether the deep-pocketed anti-gun groups like Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown (Mike is protected by people carrying firearms) gives them money.
Gun-rights groups pointed to Deerfield’s new language that specifically allows police to confiscate the banned weapons as particularly concerning.
“This certainly puts the lie to claims by anti-gunners that ‘nobody is coming to take your guns,’†Mr. Gottlieb said.
Of course they are. They usually try to dink and dunk their way towards their ultimate goal, no private ownership of firearms. Even if Deerfield backs down or loses this, it gives other cities an idea to try. One can see another city giving it a shot, but leaving out the confiscation language.
