A lawsuit filed Wednesday by a Naperville gun store owner against the city is part of five coordinated legal challenges from a national gun rights group fighting state and local bans on assault weapons and standard-capacity magazines.
National Association for Gun Rights and Robert Bevis, owner of Law Weapons & Supply on North Aurora Avenue, filed the federal case, saying the city’s ban on the sale of assault rifles is “unconstitutional” and should be overturned.
Last month the Naperville City Council voted 8-1 to amend city code to prohibit the sale of assault rifles effective Jan. 1.
“Our mission has always been to expand pro-gun precedents and defend gun owners,” said Hannah Hill, research and policy director for the nonprofit National Foundation for Gun Rights, in a news release.
Naperville city spokeswoman Linda LaCloche said the city is aware of the lawsuit and anticipated there would be legal challenges.
Besides Naperville, the gun rights group is suing Highland Park and the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Hawaii. Cases also were filed last month against the state of Colorado, Boulder County and the communities of Superior, Louisville and Boulder, all in Colorado.
Dudley Brown, president of the National Association for Gun Rights, said in the release that states have been ignoring the Second Amendment and previous court decisions for far too long.
“Law-abiding gun owners are sick and tired of their unconstitutional antics, which disarm millions of Americans,” Brown said.
The Naperville lawsuit says the city’s ordinance violates the Second Amendment rights of association members who live in the city because it prohibits them from buying “banned firearms” at stores in Naperville.
“The city’s regulation is not consistent with the nation’s history and tradition of firearm regulation,” the suit says.
It goes on to say the ordinance’s prohibitions extend to Bevis and his customers, “where Second Amendment protections are at their zenith, as it burdens their right to acquire arms for the defense of their home.”
Beyond overturning the ordinance, the suit seeks attorney costs, and compensatory damages.
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City attorney Michael DiSanto has said the law firm representing Highland Park in previous complaints against the village notified the city it would represent Naperville free of charge were there any legal challenges.