EAST ST. LOUIS - Governor Pritzker doesn’t believe the American experiment might not have begun if not for citizens taking up arms against the British empire's overreach, according to one of his answers to a plaintiff challenging his weapon ban.
Assistant attorney general Kathryn Muse didn’t deny the allegation on Oct. 16 but stated Pritzker lacked knowledge or information to form a belief about it.
Muse stated the same for an allegation that fighting started in earnest when British troops marched from Boston to Concord in order to seize an arms cache in 1775.
She stated the same for an allegation that colonial citizens mobilized as quickly as they could, bringing their private arms to bear in defense of their individual freedoms.
She stated the same for an allegation that they drove the British back to Boston and inflicted more casualties on the Redcoats than they themselves suffered.
While she hedged on the Revolution she flatly denied all sorts of allegations about operation of the ban and consequences for violations.
She admitted pistol grips, thumb stocks, adjustable stocks and flash suppressors improve accuracy and denied that they facilitate safe and effective operation for a lawful purpose.
The literary dialogue burst forth in one of four suits before U.S. District Judge Stephen McGlynn.
Lead plaintiff Federal Firearms Licensees of Illinois sued Pritzker, Attorney General Kwame Raoul and state police director Brendan Kelly last year.
Gun Owners of America, Guns Save Life, Piasa Armory weapon dealer of East Alton, Jasmine Young of Madison County and Chris Moore of Cave-in-Rock also sued.
Their counsel C.D. Michel of California claimed Young and Moore sought to protect their families and homes with arms that millions of Americans own and commonly use.
Michel claimed retail licensees sought to acquire, maintain, possess, use and transfer firearms to such persons for such use.
He claimed Piasa Armory lost sales and can’t reasonably understand what firearms it may or may not sell or whether it can return firearms that owners take in for repair.
He filled 38 pages with averments that Muse regarded as allegations.
Their exchange created a sort of conversation:
Michel stated the Second Amendment was intended to protect the natural right of armed self defense from government infringement.
Muse called it a legal conclusion to which no answer was required and to the extent a response was necessary she denied that it was a full and complete statement of law.
Michel stated that Henry Campbell Black, original author of Black’s Law Dictionary, wrote, “The citizen has at all times the right to keep and bear arms of modern warfare.”
Muse stated defendants lacked sufficient information or knowledge to form a belief.
Michel stated revolvers capable of firing five or six shots before reloading replaced flintlock pistols and lever action rifles that fired 7 to 17 rounds supplanted muzzle loaders.
Muse admitted revolvers replaced flintlock pistols and denied the remaining allegations.
Michel stated National Colored Press Association vice president John Mitchell encouraged readers to buy Winchesters to protect their families from “two legged animals growling around your home in the dead of the night."
Muse stated defendants lacked information or knowledge to form a belief.
Michel stated journalist Ida B. Wells wrote in 1892 that a Winchester rifle should have a place of honor in every black home for protection which the law refused to give.
Muse stated defendants lacked information or knowledge to form a belief.
Michel stated Harriet Tubman carried a revolver which was at the peak of firearms technology.
Muse admitted Michel’s source claimed she sometimes carried a revolver.
Michel stated Annie Oakley overcame poverty, prejudice, and physical setbacks to become a hunter and sharpshooter simply to put food on the table.
Muse stated defendants lacked information or knowledge to form a belief.
Michel stated the ArmaLite AR-15 became popular after being sold to civilians in the 1960s when the military adopted a version capable of automatic fire as its standard issue rifle.
Muse admitted AR-15s in circulation among civilians today trace their origin to a rifle ArmaLite designed and the military version is the M-16.
Michel stated 24.6 million Americans own AR-15s and similar rifles and Muse denied it.
Michel stated owners use them for sport, competition, hunting, and self defense, and Muse denied it.
Michel described seven occasions when citizens successfully defended themselves and their homes with AR-15 type rifles.
Muse denied that an individual in one case ended a mass shooting at a church and didn’t dispute the other events.
Michel stated militia activity is expressly included in the scope of the right and 18th and 19th century sources agreed that the Second Amendment protects arms of modern warfare.
Muse denied that the Second Amendment protects militia activity and arms of modern warfare.
Michel stated more than 90% of criminals using firearms to commit crimes use handguns, not AR-15s, and Muse denied it.
Michel stated there were 13,927 murder victims in 2019 and Muse admitted it.
Michel stated 364 were killed with rifles and Muse admitted it.
Michel stated more people in the U.S. were killed with knives, blunt objects, or bare hands and feet, and Muse admitted it.
Michel stated the Second Amendment is broad enough to protect a person’s right to train and maintain proficiency with firearms, and Muse denied it.
Michel stated owners of firearms, attachments and parts that meet the definition of assault weapon must register or surrender them, and Muse denied it.
Michel stated such firearms cannot be repaired because attachments and parts cannot be acquired, and Muse denied it.
Michel stated addition of banned attachments automatically and immediately turns legal firearms into illegal firearms, and Muse denied it.
Michel stated the law banned models, attachments and parts that are lawfully owned and safely operated without special restrictions in all but a few states, and Muse denied it.
Michel stated popular attachments and parts promote comfort, accuracy, and safe handling to make firearms safer and more effective for self defense, and Muse denied it.
Michel stated possessing a plastic pistol grip or other harmless part is now a serious crime in Illinois, and Muse denied it.
Michel stated the ban exempts certain government employees, security guards, locksmiths and politically connected individuals more worthy of protection than average Illinois residents.
Muse admitted the law doesn’t apply to certain persons and entities in certain circumstances and she denied the remaining allegations.
Michel stated carrying or possessing a banned weapon, a copy or a variant is a Class A misdemeanor for first offense punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a $2,500 fine.
Muse denied it.
Michel stated a second offense is a Class 3 felony punishable by two to five years in prison, and Muse denied it.
Michel stated manufacturing, selling, delivering, importing, or purchasing an assault weapon or .50 caliber rifle is a Class 3 felony for first offense punishable by two to five years in prison.
Muse denied it.
Michel stated a second offense is a Class 2 felony punishable by three to seven years in prison, and Muse denied it.
Michel stated selling, manufacturing, delivering, importing, possessing, or purchasing an assault weapon attachment or .50 caliber cartridge is a Class A misdemeanor for first offense punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a $2,500 fine.
Muse denied it.
Michel stated a second offense is a Class 4 felony punishable by one to three years in prison, and Muse denied it.
Michel stated a pistol grip on a rifle or shotgun allows for a comfortable and stable grip that reduces strain on muscles and joints and promotes accuracy and safety.
Muse admitted grips improve accuracy and denied the remaining allegations.
Michel stated a grip keeps a barrel from rising after a shot and Muse admitted it allows shooters to stabilize a weapon and reduce muzzle rise.
Michel stated a thumbhole stock decreases the risk of dropping a weapon or firing stray shots, and Muse admitted they can help shooters control recoil in rapid fire.
Michel stated an adjustable or telescoping stock permits a user to make a stock shorter or longer according to his or her size and shape.
Muse admitted they allow adjustment of length and denied the remaining allegations.
Michel stated a flash suppressor prevents a flash from blinding a user in low light and Muse admitted they allow shooters to operate without waiting for their vision to adjust.
“In sum, a pistol grip, thumbhole stock, adjustable stock, and flash suppressor are each designed to make a rifle or shotgun more comfortable, easier to use and therefore more accurate, thereby facilitating the firearm's safe and effective operation when used for a lawful purpose such as self defense,” Michel wrote.
Muse denied it.
Michel stated these features don’t make firearms more dangerous or raise the likelihood of their use in crimes, and Muse denied it.
Michel stated assault weapon is a political term of ever changing definition with no connection to the interests the law purports to serve, and Muse denied it.
Muse concluded her answers with affirmative defenses.
She stated the weapons and accessories regulated by the Act are not in common use for self defense and as a result are not covered by the Second Amendment’s plain text.
She stated plaintiffs didn’t show they intend to engage in conduct that the Amendment covers.
She stated the ban fits well within the nation’s historical tradition of regulating dangerous or unusual weapons.
McGlynn held bench trial on all four suits in September and has begun to receive proposals for findings of fact and conclusions of law.
Stories Muse didn’t deny:
In 2017, in Oklahoma a 19 year old male thwarted a home invasion by shooting and killing three robbers with an AR15.
In 2018, in Illinois an assailant stabbed a victim and a witness retrieved an AR-15 from his apartment and stopped the attack with only the threat of force.
In 2018, in North Carolina three masked gunmen broke into a house and fired at a teen resident who shot back with an AR-15 and killed one of them.
In 2019, in Florida four masked intruders shot a 61 year old homeowner who shot and killed two of them with his AR15.
In 2019, in Texas a 15 year old boy and his 12 year old sister were alone when two burglars broke in. The boy retrieved an AR15 belonging to his father, a deputy, and shot a burglar.
In 2019, in Florida masked gunmen burst into a home, pistol whipped a father, grabbed his 11 year old daughter, and shot at her pregnant mother who shot one dead with the family's AR-15.