Lawsuit Filed in Effingham County Against House Bill 5471

A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Accuracy Firearms of Effingham in regard to House Bill 5471, which bans the sale and manufacture of certain types of weapons and ammunition in Illinois.

A trio of gun owners are the plaintiffs in a suit filed in Crawford County, and the executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association Tuesday said he'd be "filing a federal lawsuit imminently."

The suit filed in Effingham County on behalf of Accuracy Firearms was done so by Thomas DeVore of Bond County, who was the Republican candidate for Illinois Attorney General in November.

The press release announcing the filing of the Accuracy Firearms suit states House Bill 5471 is "an outright attack on the constitutional rights of lawful gun owners across the state unless one is so fortunate to be in the large group of persons who somehow are excepted out."

The case number is 2023-MR-04. Governor J.B. Pritzker is listed as the defendant, along with Attorney General Kwame Raoul, House Speaker Chris Welch, and Senate President Don Harmon. 

A hearing has been scheduled for 11am today before Judge Chad Miller, who will hear DeVore's request for a temporary restraining order against enforcement of the new law while it proceeds through the courts.

Meanwhile, Wood River-based attorney Thomas Maag filed suit Friday afternoon in Crawford County on behalf of three gun owners. Maag said, "State court is the court that's closest to the people. The people affected by this (law) are people in the state of Illinois. We think state court can clean up the mess created  by the governor and legislature of the state of Illinois."

The ban, which will effectively prevent Illinoisans from buying the weapons listed in the law, will require those who already own such firearms as of January 1, 2024,to register those guns with the state police.