Illinois Attorney General defends gun ban with reference to attempted assassination of former president

(The Center Square) – Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said the attempted assassination of former President Trump demonstrates why the state’s gun ban should remain in place.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that Illinois’ ban is ‘highly suspect because it broadly prohibits common semiautomatic firearms used for lawful purposes.”

In a discussion at the City Club of Chicago, Attorney General Raoul questioned whether the text of the Second Amendment protects AR-15s.

“Butler, Pennsylvania from last week illustrates for us that AR-15s can have lethality from long distance away, and I don’t think that’s the vision of the framers back in the 18th century that people were going to be walking around with AR-15s near schoolyards, presidential rallies, and places like that. It’s more of a weapon of war,” Raoul said.

The Supreme Court declined to hear cases challenging the Illinois ban until appeals courts give their final judgments.

Raoul said his office will continue to defend the state’s prohibition of semiautomatic rifles.

“People have misinterpreted the Supreme Court denying cert as meaning that’s a final answer on the assault weapons ban,” the attorney general said.

Raoul’s Crime Gun Connect platform aims to identify sources of illegal firearms. The attorney general said that most mass shootings and day-to-day shootings do not involve guns that are legally bought.

“Cracking down on the trafficking, on the straw purchases, are critical to cracking down on the more frequently-occurring types of mass shootings,” Raoul said.

Raoul said he would applaud any effort by the General Assembly to enhance reporting of lost and stolen weapons.