NRA sues over Illinois ban on semiautomatic weapons

By JOHN O’CONNOR
AP Political Writer

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A new federal lawsuit contends that Illinois’ two-week-old ban on semiautomatic weapons outlaws “ubiquitous” firearms in “radical” defiance of the Constitution’s Second Amendment. The powerful National Rifle Association on Tuesday filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. It challenges the newly minted prohibition on dozens of types of rapid-fire weapons signed into law Jan. 10 in response to the shooting deaths of seven at the Fourth of July parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park. It’s the second federal lawsuit filed over the law. There are also at least three state-level challenges to the legislative procedure followed to approve it.