Federal judge denies injunction on Naperville gun sale ban

A federal judge has denied a request by a Naperville gun shop owner for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction on city and state laws banning the sale of certain high-powered weapons.

Virginia Kendall, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, issued the ruling Friday in the lawsuit brought by Robert Bevis, owner of Law Weapons and Supply in Naperville, and the National Association for Gun Rights against the city of Naperville and Police Chief Jason Arres.

The Naperville ordinance was slated to go into effect on Jan. 1. City officials, however, agreed to delay enforcement until Kendall issued her ruling.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker subsequently signed a similar bill into law last month. Arres then was added to the lawsuit by the plaintiffs to block enforcement of the local and state laws within city limits.

"Bevis has not furnished any evidence that he will lose substantial sales, and he can still sell almost any other type of gun," Kendall wrote in her ruling.

The Naperville City Council passed an ordinance in August prohibiting the sale of certain high-powered rifles within city limits to anyone except for law enforcement officers and members of the military, including the Illinois National Guard.

The city's law affects Law Weapons and Supply and another gun shop - Range USA - as well as some other businesses, including pawnshops. Private sales of the weapons are not prohibited, and residents are not blocked from owning them.

A broader state law makes it illegal to sell or purchase certain weapons, attachments and cartridges, with similar exceptions for law enforcement and military personnel.

"Naperville and Illinois lawfully exercised their authority to control their possession, transfer, sale and manufacture by enacting a ban on commercial sales," Kendall wrote in her ruling.