Over the last couple of years, the Illinois Supreme Court has proven that it takes Constitutional firearm rights seriously and that it is quite supportive of firearm rights in general. The court has recently issued two opinions that are enormous victories for firearm rights restoration in Illinois and, more importantly, are both very helpful for restoration of federal firearm rights.
Case in point is Guns Save Life, Inc. v. Ali, 2021 IL 126014 (Ill. Supreme Court October 21, 2021). In that case, the Court struck down – as unconstitutional – a tax imposed by Cook County, Illinois on the sale of firearms and ammunition. Aside from showing the Court’s continued support for firearm rights, the case is interesting in that it was not based on the US Constitution, but was based on the Uniformity Clause of the Illinois Constitution. The case is also notable in that it was unanimous with all six participating Justices agreeing with the result. The Illinois Supreme Court has seven Justices, but one did not participate in the Guns Save Life case. Again, for protecting firearm rights and rights restoration, it is important to see such strong support from a State Supreme Court.
Basically, the Uniformity Clause of the Illinois Constitution requires that any non-property taxes imposed by the State, counties or municipalities must be “reasonable” and that “the subjects and objects within each class shall be taxed uniformly.” Ill. Const. 1970, art. IX, § 2. Because the taxes applied to “subjects and objects” that are protected by the Illinois Constitution – firearm owners and firearms/ammunition – the Court applied a heightened level of scrutiny to the County tax laws. The heightened level of scrutiny was required because the taxes were a direct burden on firearm rights. Under this level of scrutiny, the tax classifications used by the County were required to be “substantially related” to the goals sought to be achieved by the ordinances.
The County argued that the taxes met that standard, arguing that the taxes were reasonable efforts to address violence, injuries and death caused by firearm violence. For example, the County presented evidence that, in 2017, the County’s hospitals treated over 1,100 patients with gunshot wounds, spending $30,000 to $50,000 on each patient. See news report here. The County argued that the taxes were reasonable and substantially related to reducing firearm violence, which, in turn, would help reduce costs to the County.
However, the Illinois Supreme Court disagreed. In the final analysis, the court held that there was no substantial relationship between the taxes and the goals sought by the County. The taxes were not, for example, earmarked for the County hospitals, directed to any fund or program specifically related to curbing the cost of gun violence and there was nothing in the ordinances requiring the tax proceeds to be directed to initiatives aimed at reducing gun violence. As such, the Court ruled the tax ordinances to violate the Uniformity Clause of the Illinois Constitution.
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