A federal appellate court has ruled an Illinois state law banning concealed firearms on public transit systems does not violate the Second Amendment.
The appellate court decision released Tuesday reverses the ruling of a federal judge downstate, who found the law was unconstitutional under current U.S. Supreme Court standards.
“The Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to self-defense,” the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in its ruling.
“It does not bar the people’s representatives from enacting laws — consistent with our nation’s historical tradition of regulation — that ensure public transportation systems remain free from accessible firearms.”
The case deals with a portion of Illinois’ 2013 Firearm Concealed Carry Act, which allows those with a proper permit to carry concealed firearms in public places, but not on public transit.
Four concealed carry permit holders sued over the law in 2022, claiming it prevented them from carrying weapons for self-defense when traveling via the Chicago Transit Authority and Metra.
In a ruling last year, U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston found state officials failed to show “an American tradition of firearm regulation at the time of the Founding,” which would allow Illinois to ban concealed carry on trains for self-defense.
He sided with the four permit holders, finding the law violated the Second Amendment.
The Illinois attorney general, Cook County state’s attorney, and DuPage County state’s attorney appealed, setting up Tuesday’s ruling.
The appellate court used the same Supreme Court decision cited by Johnston to determine whether the Illinois law fit within the country’s “history and tradition of firearm regulation.”
But the appellate court reached a different conclusion than Johnston, finding the law is “comfortably situated in a centuries-old practice of limiting firearms in sensitive and crowded, confined places.”
The court added that the country’s Founding Fathers likely never envisioned people traveling around in “crowded and confined metal tubes.”
Both the Cook County state’s attorney’s and Illinois attorney general offices said they were “pleased” with Tuesday’s ruling.
A lawyer for the concealed carry permit holders said they were “disappointed” in Tuesday’s ruling. They are currently reviewing options for further review.