Supreme Court Upholds Illinois Assault Weapons Ban

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to intervene in the Illinois ban on AR-15 semiautomatic weapons, marking the second time in six months that the justices have left the law in place. The ban, passed after a mass shooting in 2022, prohibits the ownership of semiautomatic weapons and magazines that enable rapid firing. Gun rights advocates argue that the ban infringes on the Second Amendment, while the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the law, stating that semiautomatic weapons are more akin to military-grade weaponry than firearms used for self-defense. The Supreme Court's action is not a decision on the merits of the case, and without conflicting lower court decisions, the justices may have seen no need to intervene.