Pritzker defends state ban on semiautomatic weapons

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – After the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider a case challenging Cook County’s ban on semiautomatic weapons, Gov. J.B. Pritzker cited the 2022 Highland Park parade shooting as a reason why Illinois’ statewide ban should be upheld.

The governor spoke at a cannabis dispensary in Chicago on Thursday, two days after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Viramontes v. Cook County and a similar case in Connecticut.

The governor said his office is assisting the Illinois Attorney General to protect the people’s rights.

“The rights of people to go to a 4th of July parade and be safe, and not have 48 people shot with more than 60 bullets per second, issued by a weapon that shouldn’t be available to the public,” Pritzker said.

Seven people died and dozens more were injured during the parade on July 4, 2022.

Pritzker said Illinois banned the weapons statewide for a reason.

“Our families ought to live in peace. We don’t need those kinds of weapons. We can stand for the Second Amendment and allow people to have weapons to defend themselves. They don’t need a weapon that can fire that many bullets in a single second,” the governor said.

Pritzker signed the Illinois ban in 2023. Cook County’s ban has been in place since 1993.

Second Amendment Foundation founder Alan Gottlieb told The Center Square’s Greg Bishop it’s long overdue for the case to be heard.

“There’s no doubt in my mind, I believe, that those bans are going to bite the dust. I don’t think the Supreme Court would have taken the case if they weren’t going to overturn the bans,” Gottlieb said on “The States.”

A ruling in Viramontes v. Cook County is not expected until June 2027.

Greg Bishop and Sean Reed contributed to this story