SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Illinois will soon ban ads for firearms that officials say pose a threat to public safety and appeal to children, extremists and others who might later use the weapons illegally. The plan is to ban advertisements for firearms. curb mass shootings.
Gun rights advocates say the plan, which Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker has promised to sign into law, is an unreasonably vague statute that limits not just the constitutionally protected right to own guns but speech. They claim that it also infringes on the freedom of people.
The centerpiece of Democratic Attorney General Kwame Raoul's effort is the JR-15, a smaller, lighter version of the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle promoted with the tagline “Get what's yours.” The manufacturer says it has added safety features and is intentionally small to suit young shooters learning how to safely operate such weapons from adults. Raul said it was marketed to children and could tempt them to ignore adult supervision and start firing.
Opening the door to court challenges is part of an ongoing effort by Democratic lawmakers who control the state Legislature to stamp out gun violence, which has become even more complex. U.S. Supreme Court expands gun rights one year ago.Pritzker also signed. Ban on semi-automatic rifles Laws protecting gun rights will be enacted this year. Continue to challenge in federal court.
Illinois becomes the 8th state to be approved. law This allows for lawsuits against firearm manufacturers and dealers. The bill comes after the country's deadliest six months. mass murder They have been recorded since at least 2006, and all but one involved a gun.
Mr. Raul found precedent in 25 years of settlements with major tobacco companies and, more recently, in e-cigarette advertising.
“We have gone after marketing that has historically promoted the consumption of products that are harmful to minors,” Raoul said. “The firearms industry should not ignore the standards we hold other industries.”
It counters the National Shooting Sports Foundation, an industry group that has filed federal lawsuits in nearly every state that has approved similar laws, except that no other industry produces constitutionally protected products. .
“They are taking away your First Amendment rights and violating your Second Amendment rights,” said Mark Oliva, a spokesman for the foundation.
Absent a specific law, states are barred from most legal actions under a 2005 federal law that bars lawsuits accusing manufacturers of the subsequent criminal use of guns they purchase. The law grew out of mayors suing gun manufacturers for public nuisance in the late 1990s, such as Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley's $433 million lawsuit in 1998. . The Illinois Supreme Court rejected it in 2004..
But federal law allows states to take legal action if they explicitly cite firearms and manufacturers' actions in state law, which Raoul's plan would do. He won the hearts of lawmakers by showing them ads he deemed to be over the line.
“Some of the ads I saw were nauseating,” said Don Harmon of Oak Park, who sponsored the bill.
This included an advertisement for the JR-15, a small, lightweight .22 caliber rifle. An emailed statement from the manufacturer, Wee 1 Tactical, said the gun has safety features not found in other guns.
“The JR-15.22 Youth Training Rifle is for adults who want to supervise the next generation of responsible gun owners in safely introducing them to hunting and shooting sports,” the statement said. “Parents and guardians who want to continue this American tradition have been purchasing small-caliber, lightweight youth training rifles for decades.”
“There are no gun manufacturers that have so-called crosshairs,” Raul said. … It is not our interest to go fishing. ” Violating the law could result in a $50,000 fine, but more important to the attorney general is the possibility of a court-ordered injunction. Still, Raul hopes that the law will deter problematic behavior and that legal action will not be necessary.
New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Washington, California, Hawaii, colorado has adopted a similar plan. Shooting sports organizations filed a federal lawsuit Resolved in all regions except Colorado. Despite the court action, the law remains in effect in every jurisdiction except New Jersey, and prohibits enforcement against members of shooting sports organizations, according to the Brady camp, which intervened on behalf of the defendants in each case. .
Although Connecticut does not have an exemption from federal law, the court found that the state's statutes were written broadly enough to permit the federal law. $73 million lawsuit settlement with Remington Early last year for the families of the victims of the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.
Other campaigns Raoul has tracked have seen manufacturers work with military and law enforcement agencies to claim they are the Pentagon's first choice for sidearms and long guns. This suggests such claims are attracting people considering forming illegal private militias, he said.
This idea, and the issue of advertising aimed at children, was included in President Joe Biden's March executive order to stop violence. This included expanding background checks and applying red flag laws.Mr. Biden also encouraged The independent Federal Trade Commission produces the analysis. About how gun manufacturers “sell firearms to minors and…all civilians, including the use of military imagery.”
The White House referred questions about the investigation to the FTC, but press secretary Douglas Farrar declined to comment.
In response to suggestions that the ads are aimed at children and militia-minded people, Oliva, the shooting sports organization, said that no one under the age of 18 should own a gun, and that minors' access to guns should be controlled by their parents. He pointed out that it must be managed. Serious gun owners want the toughest available, so it makes sense to advertise a gun as suitable for combat use, he said.
Mr. Oliva and other critics derided the proposal's “reasonable controls” standard, defined as “reasonable procedures, safeguards, and business practices.” Todd Vandermyde, a former lobbyist for gun rights groups in Springfield, said Democrats, who have a poor track record of winning legislation to stop gun violence, are simply turning to the courts for help.
“They're coming in through the back door and trying to bankrupt the industry by racking up legal costs while playing with free money,” Vandermyde said.
The bill's House sponsor, Democratic Rep. Jennifer Gon Gershowitz of Glenview, emphasized that the bill does not cherry-pick firearms for the purpose of business deception or fraud.
“This is not singling out the firearms industry,” Gon Gershowitz said. “This makes clear that the firearms industry, like any other industry, is prohibited from engaging in unfair or deceptive sales or marketing.”
