US Supreme Court declines to hear 2nd Illinois case challenging state’s ban on semiautomatic weapons

By JOHN O’CONNOR
AP Political Writer

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a second Illinois case challenging the state’s ban on semiautomatic weapons. Decatur Republican state Rep. Dan Caulkins appealed last summer’s ruling by the Illinois Supreme Court upholding the prohibition. The state bans handguns and rifles of the type used in the 2022 Highland Park Independence Day parade shooting that killed seven and injured more than 30. It precludes ownership of dozens of types of semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity magazines. Caulkins and his co-plaintiffs claimed that participation in the decision by two state court justices violated the 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection of the laws because they accepted millions of dollars of campaign contributions from gun restriction advocates.