EAST ST. LOUIS – Young adults Mitchell Nalley of St. Clair County, David Meyer of Fayette County, and Eva Davis of Kendall County are challenging state law that won’t let them carry firearms until they turn 21.
They sued Attorney General Kwame Raoul, state police superintendent Brendan Kelly, and other officials on May 27, for the right to carry at age 18.
All three belong to Illinois State Rifle Association, Second Amendment Foundation, and Firearms Policy Coalition, which stand with them as plaintiffs.
Their counsel Christian Ambler of Chicago claimed Illinois prohibits a class of law abiding and responsible citizens from fully exercising their right to bear arms.
“Plaintiffs wish to exercise their fundamental, constitutionally guaranteed right to carry loaded, operable handguns on their person, outside their homes, while in public, for lawful purposes including immediate self defense,” Ambler wrote.
“At 18 years of age, law abiding citizens in this country are considered adults for almost all purposes and certainly for the purpose of the exercise of fundamental constitutional rights.”
Ambler claims the Second Amendment fully protected adults between 18 and 21 at the time of its ratification.
“Hundreds of statutes from the colonial and founding eras required 18 to 20 year olds to keep and bear arms,” Ambler wrote.
“The tradition of disarming violent and dangerous persons was practiced from medieval England through mid 20th Century America, but there is no tradition of disarming nonviolent people like plaintiffs Meyer, Nalley, and Davis.”
He listed crimes they would commit if they carried guns, involving prison for a year to seven years.
He offered statistics showing 43 percent more arrests among 21 to 24 year olds in violent crimes in 2019.
He identified Nalley, 19, as a full time student and a member of the Reserve Officer Training Corps, who has received training on safe operation of M249 and M240 machine guns and the M4 rifle.
“Nalley is concerned about the growing trend of church shootings and active shooter situations at areas where large amounts of people congregate, such as Walmart and Target stores,” he wrote.
He wrote that if Nalley were free to carry a Smith and Wesson M & P handgun, he would acquire one through a private sale.
Meyer, 19, works full time in construction and drives to jobs alone and in possession of high dollar tools.
Ambler wrote that Meyer would acquire a Smith and Wesson Shield handgun through a family gift.
Davis, 18, has been shooting since age 12 and was ranked the top overall female shooter in Illinois in 2019 and 2020, he wrote.
“Although still a high school senior, Davis takes college courses at a local community college in the afternoons and evenings,” he wrote.
He wrote that her schedule has included classes ending between 9 and 10 p.m., and she has walked alone to her vehicle in the dark.
He wrote that she would acquire a Beretta Pico handgun through a family gift.
“Females between the ages of 18 and 21 commit violent offenses at an exceptionally low rate, and there is absolutely no basis for broadly prohibiting them from carrying firearms in public,” he wrote.
Ambler represents plaintiffs in association with David Sigale of Wheaton and David Thompson, Peter Patterson, and William Bergstrom, all of Washington.
The court clerk assigned Senior District Judge Phil Gilbert, who recused himself.
The clerk assigned District Judge David Dugan.