## Facts

- Two groups of plaintiffs, including Illinois residents and a firearms-rights association, filed federal suits challenging Illinois statutes that effectively barred most civilians from carrying ready-to-use firearms in public.
- The challenged provisions were Illinois’s Unlawful Use of Weapons (UUW) and Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon (AUUW) statutes, which generally prohibited carrying a gun in public if it was loaded, immediately accessible, and uncased.
- The statutory scheme contained narrow exceptions (e.g., law enforcement, certain security roles, hunters, and target shooters) and generally permitted possession of a ready-to-use firearm only on one’s own property, in the home, at a fixed place of business, or on property where the owner consented.
- The district courts dismissed both complaints and denied requested injunctive relief, reasoning that the Second Amendment right recognized in Supreme Court precedent did not extend beyond the home.
- The plaintiffs appealed, and the Seventh Circuit consolidated the cases.

## Issues

1. Whether the Second Amendment right to “keep and bear Arms” includes carrying firearms in public for self-defense.
2. Whether Illinois’s near-total ban on carrying ready-to-use firearms in public violates the Second Amendment.

## Decision

- The Seventh Circuit reversed the dismissals and held that the Second Amendment protects a right to bear arms for self-defense outside the home.
- The court held the challenged Illinois statutes unconstitutional to the extent they broadly prohibited ordinary, law-abiding adults from carrying ready-to-use firearms in public.
- The court rejected rational-basis review for a law burdening a constitutional right and concluded Illinois’s blanket prohibition could not be justified on the record presented.
- The court stayed its mandate for 180 days to allow the Illinois legislature time to enact a constitutionally permissible public-carry regulatory framework.

## Legal Principles

- The Second Amendment’s protection of the right to “bear” arms is not limited to the home; it encompasses carrying firearms in public for self-defense, subject to regulation.
- A categorical ban that broadly denies responsible, law-abiding citizens any meaningful ability to carry ready-to-use firearms in public for self-defense violates the Second Amendment.
- Public-safety interests may support licensing and other reasonable limits on public carry, but those interests do not permit a flat prohibition unsupported by adequate justification.
- Courts evaluating burdens on the Second Amendment may not uphold such laws under mere rational-basis review.

## Conclusion

The Seventh Circuit held that the Second Amendment secures a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense and invalidated Illinois’s unusually broad ban on public carry, while granting the state time to implement a regulatory alternative consistent with constitutional constraints.


Moore v. Madigan, 702 F.3d 933 (7th Cir. 2012)