Seventh Circuit Upholds Illinois AR Ban — SCOTUS Is the Only Exit Left

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit handed Illinois Democrats the win they needed to keep the Protect Illinois Communities Act (PICA) on the books — for now.

In a 2–1 decision, the panel reversed a federal district judge who had declared the semiautomatic rifle and large-capacity magazine bans unconstitutional under Bruen. The majority held that PICA does not violate the Second Amendment and that its restrictions are "consistent with the principles that underpin our Nation's tradition of firearm regulation."

That is the language anti-gun circuits use when they intend to run out the clock. Illinois passed PICA after the 2022 Highland Park parade attack. Governor J.B. Pritzker signed it. Attorney General Kwame Raoul appealed immediately when a district judge ruled against the state, securing a stay that kept the bans in force through litigation.

Thursday's ruling is exactly why gun owners have been watching the Supreme Court's June cert grant in Viramontes v. Cook County and Grant v. Higgins. The Seventh Circuit is not the last word — but it is the word that governs Illinois until SCOTUS speaks.

Firearms Policy Coalition, which fought the case as part of the consolidated Harrel v. Raoul litigation, called the decision more of the "confusion and open defiance" lower courts have shown since Bruen. FPC president Brandon Combs pointed to the Viramontes grant as proof the Supreme Court knows the circuit split cannot stand.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation said it will ask the high court to review the case. Given that the justices already took AR-15 ban challenges for the coming term, Illinois owners should plan for a long winter under PICA while the cert pipeline sorts out.

**Do not confuse this loss with the separate NRA challenge filed this week to Illinois's 72-hour waiting period** — that is a different statute, a different historical record, and a different path through the courts.

For now, the Seventh Circuit has told Illinois owners that PICA stays. The Supreme Court will decide whether that answer survives contact with Heller, Bruen, and tens of millions of rifles in common use.