Monday, September 30, 2013
In a recent 7‐0 decision the Illinois Supreme Court came out with an epic decision that may reverberate
throughout the 50 states. The facts were that Aguilar, a 17 year old youth, had a loaded gun in his
possession on property that did not belong to him and underage possession. The gun was loaded and
not in a case.
Aguilar was in violation of Illinois state law known as the “Unlawful Use of Weapons” (UUW) and
“Aggravated Unlawful Use of Weapons” (AUUW). The trial court found him guilty of the offense of
possession by a minor of a concealable firearm and possessing a firearm outside his place of abode.
The appellate court concurred, hence the appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court. The Illinois Supreme Court (ISP) made it clear that the UUW and AUUW “amounts to a wholesale statutory ban on the exercise of a personal right that is specifically named in and guaranteed by the United States Constitution … In no other context would we permit this, and we will not permit it here
either.”
While this decision is concise, simple and clear despite the court declining to address all the historical
facts that give this decision its basis, neither did the court go into detail on the meaning of the simple
phrase, “shall not be infringed.” The court did not discuss the FOID card infringement that is clearly
unconstitutional as well in my opinion. Typically the courts will not expand a case to other portions of
law that are not specifically addressed in a suit that comes before the court. Consequently I can
understand why they did not address it.
