Illinois Association of Firearms Retailers
Launches Lawsuit Against Chicago

NEWTOWN, Conn. -- The Illinois Association of Firearms Retailers (ILAFR), a state affiliate of the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) – the trade association for the firearms industry -- has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of several recently adopted anti-gun laws designed to circumvent last week's Supreme Court ruling in McDonald v. Chicago. In that landmark decision, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the fundamental right of all law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms, while outlawing the power of state and local governments to ban firearms.

In a complaint filed yesterday evening in federal Court, the ILAFR challenged a series of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's anti-gun laws and regulations affecting the commerce of firearms in Chicago. This includes laws forbidding federally licensed firearms retailers from operating within the city, limiting the number of firearms a law-abiding citizen may purchase in a year and banning modern sporting rifles.

"The actions of Mayor Daley demonstrate a clear disregard for the rule of law and our nation's highest court," said ILAFR Executive Director Whitney O'Daniel.

In the aftermath of the McDonald decision, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane noted that a new era of civil rights litigation was upon us as "laws and regulations that infringe upon and violate the individual right of law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms, protected by the Second Amendment, are challenged." Today, with the filing of the ILAFR lawsuit, that prediction is being realized.

"Instead of being able to promote business in a city that desperately needs revenue, tax dollars will be spent trying to defend these unconstitutional ordinances that stand no chance of reducing crime," said Keane.

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About NSSF
The National Shooting Sports Foundation is the trade association for the firearms industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of more than 6,000 manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen's organizations and publishers. For more information, log on to www.nssf.org.