In 2023, Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker signed a sweeping gun ban which outlawed most legally owned semiautomatic rifles.

Yet in a nightmare scenario for Democrats, the Trump Department of Justice (DOJ) is pushing to have it overturned. 

DOJ claims an interest in "the Second Amendment rights of all Americans"

According to Just the News, the DOJ submitted a motion late last week which was approved by the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

The appeals court is scheduled to hear oral arguments over the law's constitutional status on September 22 in Barnett v. Raoul.

"This appeal concerns whether Illinois’s Protect Illinois Communities Act, which prohibits so-called 'assault weapons,' can withstand scrutiny under the Second Amendment, which protects Americans’ right to 'keep and bear Arms,'" the motion read.

"Because of the federal government’s interest in ‘protect[ing] the Second Amendment rights of all Americans,’ Executive Order No. 14,206, Protecting Second Amendment Rights, … the United States filed a brief as amicus curiae supporting Plaintiffs-Appellees," it noted.

Gun rights activist welcomes the DOJ's move

"The United States believes that its participation in oral arguments will be helpful to the Court," the motion went on to add.

DOJ arguing against Illinois’ gun ban ‘monumental,’ advocate says https://t.co/cJVhq8kRrB

— Just the News (@JustTheNews) September 15, 2025

Just the News noted that the DOJ's motion was welcomed by firearms rights advocate Todd Vandermyde as a monumental move.

"We have the United States Department of Justice not only filing an amici brief on behalf of the challenges to the Illinois gun ban, they have asked for time to come in and argue the government’s position," Vandermyde was quoted as saying.

DOJ submitted amicus brief in June

Meanwhile, the National Rifle Association (NRA) reported in June that the DOJ had filed an amicus brief which referenced New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, a 2022 Supreme Court which expanded gun rights.

"Three years ago, the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision meant to break a habit developed by some States of treating the Second Amendment as 'a second-class right, subject to an entirely different body of rules than the other' constitutional rights," the brief recalled.

"Regrettably, not every State got the message. Just a few months after Bruen, Illinois outlawed some of the most commonly used rifles and magazines in America via a so-called 'assault weapons' ban," the brief stated.

"In doing so, Illinois violated the Supreme Court’s clear directive that States cannot prohibit arms that are 'in common use' by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes," it added.