In layman’s terms: A district court judge ruled that the Illinois ban on concealed carry on public transportation is unconstitutional. However, the relief granted by the judgement only applies to the individual plaintiffs in the case, not the public as whole.
A US District Court Judge ruled that an Illinois ban on concealed carry of firearms by permit-holders on public transportation is unconstitutional, providing summary judgment and relief to the four, individually named plaintiffs.
Ruling in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Western Division, Judge Iain Johnston, found that the state, “failed to meet their burden to show an American tradition of firearm regulation at the time of the Founding” as it relates to elements of the Illinois Firearm Concealed Carry Act.
The case, known as Schoenthal v. Raoul, challenges a list of prohibited areas for concealed carry permit holders in the state of Illinois (which does not allow open carry of firearms). Gun rights organization, Firearms Policy Coalition, supported the case.
In writing his decision, Judge Johnston gets straight to the Bruen precedent by page five, applying the simple two-part test of when the Second Amendment’s plain text covers an individual’s conduct, the Constitution presumptively protects that conduct.
Judge Johnston reveals a little bit of his own opinion of the application of Bruen, but nevertheless sticks to the standard.
The parties also can’t escape that this case requires navigating the murky waters of Bruen. Plaintiffs’ proposed conduct—carrying concealed handguns on public transit for self-defense—falls within the presumptive ambit of the Second Amendment, shifting the burden to Defendants to show that the Firearm Concealed Carry Act’s ban falls within the historical tradition of firearm regulation in this country. On the record before the Court in this case, Defendants have failed to meet their burden.
The relief granted in the case was narrow in scope and limited to the four named defendants, and covers only their individual ability to carry on the CTA, the Illinois Metra, and Metra property.
The decision is likely to be appealed by the State.
