Fairfax, Va. -- The National Rifle Association is
funding and supporting a lawsuit that challenges the
constitutionality of Illinois’ complete and total ban
on carrying firearms for self-defense outside the
home. The case, filed today in the United States
District Court for the Southern District of Illinois,
is Shepard v. Madigan. The lead plaintiff is church
treasurer Mary Shepard; joining her as co-plaintiff is the Illinois
State Rifle Association, the NRA’s state affiliate.
Mary Shepard is an Illinois resident and a trained gun
owner with no criminal record, who is licensed to
carry a concealed handgun in two other states. Because
Illinois remains the only state that completely
prohibits all law-abiding citizens from carrying
firearms for self-defense outside the home, Mary
Shepard also became a crime victim. While working as
the treasurer of her church, Mrs. Shepard and an
83-year-old co-worker were viciously attacked and
beaten by a six-foot-three-inch, 245-pound man with a
violent past and a criminal record. Mrs. Shepard and
her co-worker were lucky to survive, as each of them
suffered major injuries to the head, neck and upper
body. Mrs. Shepard’s injuries required extensive
surgery and physical therapy.
“Mary Shepard isn't just a victim of the violent
criminal who attacked her," said Chris W. Cox,
executive director of NRA’s Institute for Legislative
Action. "She is also a victim of anti self-defense
activists in the Illinois legislature who have
consistently refused to recognize that good people
have the right to protect themselves when they go
about their everyday business. We're pleased that the
legislature has come closer this year than ever before
to changing the law, but close isn't good enough for
Mary Shepard and the thousands of other Illinois
residents who are prohibited by statute from defending
themselves outside the home."
Because Illinois statutes prohibit the right to keep
and bear arms and the ability to carry handguns in
Illinois, they infringe on the right of the people,
including Mrs. Shepard, members of the ISRA and other
law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms as
guaranteed by the Second and Fourteenth Amendments to
the United States Constitution and are thus null and
void.
Cox concluded: "In its historic Heller and McDonald
decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court made clear that the
Second Amendment protects a fundamental, individual
right to keep and bear arms. Mary Shepard's story
highlights the need for law-abiding citizens to be
able to fully exercise their Second Amendment rights.
Whether through the legislature or through the courts,
we won't rest until that happens."
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