A gun-rights advocacy group filed a lawsuit in federal court against the City of Highland Park on Wednesday, alleging their “assault weapons” and high-capacity magazine bans are a violation of the Constitution.
The National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Plaintiff and Highland Park resident Susan Goldman owns semi-automatic firearms and magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds, according to the lawsuit.
Goldman stores her firearms outside of the city limits, in accordance with a 2013 ordinance banning “assault weapons” and high-capacity magazines.
“She [Goldman] is especially aggrieved by the fact that the City’s prohibitions require her to store her arms outside the city limits, which requirement renders the arms useless for the defense of her home,” the civil complaint said.
NAGR refused to use the term “assault weapon” in their lawsuit, calling it a “rhetorically charged political term.”
The group challenged the city’s ban, citing the Second Amendment and the U.S. supreme court cases of District of Columbia v. Heller, McDonald v. City of Chicago and New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen.
NAGR asked the court to declare sections of the ordinance “unconstitutional on their face or as applied to the extent their prohibitions apply to law-abiding adults seeking to acquire, use, transfer, or possess arms that are in common use by the American public for lawful purpose.”
“A victory here will establish good legal precedent throughout the entire circuit, including Wisconsin and Indiana,” the group said in a statement.
NAGR also filed four other lawsuits against states or cities across the country, including Naperville.
“States have been ignoring the Second Amendment and the Heller and McDonald decisions for far too long – and law-abiding gun owners are sick and tired of their unconstitutional antics, which disarm millions of Americans,” President of the National Association for Gun Rights Dudley Brown said.
“In light of the Bruen decision and the success we’ve had in suing localities in Colorado, we’re going after every Federal Circuit Court which has upheld egregious firearms bans. They must immediately overturn their ‘assault weapons’ and magazine bans – and our suits argue just that,” Brown said.
The Highland Park City Council passed a resolution in August supporting statewide and federal bans on “assault weapons” and high-capacity magazines.
The resolution called them a “threat to our American freedom.”
It came after a mass shooting in the city during a Fourth of July parade left seven people dead and over 45 injured.
Robert Crimo III, 21, of Highwood, was charged with 21 counts of first-degree murder, 48 counts of attempted murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm.
Crimo allegedly fired a total of 83 rounds using three 30-round magazines from his Smith & Wesson M&P 15 semi-automatic rifle, Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Ben Dillon said during a bond hearing in July.
The Lake County Board passed a similar resolution supporting state and federal legislation to ban the sale and possession of “assault rifles.”
NAGR asked the courts to strike down the gun control laws, hoping to establish a nationwide precedent.
“We are simply asking for the courts to enforce the Supreme Court’s pro-gun Bruen ruling by re-evaluating and striking down each of these gun control laws under the new national standard which outlaws gun controls that are not consistent with the ‘text, history, tradition of the Second Amendment’ as required in the Bruen decision,” Brown said.