Wilson v. Cook County

914 N.E.2d 595, 394 Ill. App. 3d 534
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedAugust 19, 2009
Docket1-08-1202
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 914 N.E.2d 595 (Wilson v. Cook County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wilson v. Cook County, 914 N.E.2d 595, 394 Ill. App. 3d 534 (Ill. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE MURPHY

delivered the opinion of the court:

This appeal arises from the dismissal of plaintiffs Matthew D. Wilson, Troy Edhlund, and Joseph Messineo’s amended complaint seeking declaratory judgment and injunctive relief against defendants Cook County, the Cook County commissioners, and Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart. Specifically, plaintiffs sought a declaration that the Blair Holt Assault Weapons Ban (Cook County Ordinance No. 06— O — 50 (November 14, 2006), amending Cook County Code of Ordinances §54 — 211 et seq. (eff. January 1, 1994)) (Ordinance) was unconstitutional. On April 29, 2008, the trial court dismissed the plaintiffs’ first amended complaint pursuant to section 2 — 615 of the Code of Civil Procedure. 735 ILCS 5/2 — 615 (West 2006). The trial court found that: (1) the Ordinance is not unconstitutionally vague or overbroad; (2) plaintiffs did not state a cause of action for violation of the due process and equal protection clauses; (3) the Ordinance did not violate article I, section 22, of the Illinois Constitution (Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, §22) or the second amendment of the United States Constitution (U.S. Const., amend. II); and the county properly exercised its police powers in enacting the Ordinance.

Plaintiffs timely filed this appeal and arranged their arguments into seven issues. Plaintiffs’ first two arguments involve the application of the United States Supreme Court’s holding in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 171 L. Ed. 2d 637, 128 S. Ct. 2783 (2008). Plaintiffs argue that Heller virtually overruled authority relied on by the trial court. Plaintiffs contend that their facial challenge to the Ordinance on due process and equal protection grounds was sufficient to withstand defendants’ motion to dismiss. Plaintiffs also argue that the Heller Court found that the second amendment provides a fundamental right to bear arms. They contend that this right must be incorporated into the fourteenth amendment and applied to the states. For the following reasons, we affirm the trial court’s dismissal of plaintiffs’ complaint.

I. BACKGROUND

The Ordinance was originally enacted in 1993 by the Cook County Board of Commissioners (Commissioners) as the Cook County Deadly Weapons Dealer Control Ordinance to ban certain assault weapons and assault ammunition. Cook County Ordinance No. 93 — O—37 (eff. January 1, 1994). In the prefatory clauses, the Commissioners cited to the public health, safety, and welfare concerns caused by both assault weapons and guns in general. The Ordinance set forth several supporting facts, including: 1,000 of the 4,500 trauma cases handled by Cook County Hospital that year were due to gunshot wounds; there were more federally licensed gun dealers in Cook County than gas stations; an estimated 1 in 20 high school students had carried a gun in the prior month; and assault weapons are 20 times more likely to be used in the commission of a crime than other kinds of weapons. In addition, the Commissioners stated that there was no legitimate sporting purpose for the military-style assault weapons used on the streets.

Prior to its effective date, the Ordinance was amended to remove the prohibitions on the sale, transfer, acquisition, or possession of assault ammunition. Cook County Ordinance No. 93 — O—46 (amended November 16, 1993). The Ordinance prohibited the sale, transfer, acquisition, ownership, or possession of assault weapons, defined as 1 of a list of 60 types or models of high capacity, rapid-fire rifles or pistols. The Ordinance required any owners of the defined assault weapons to remove them from Cook County or modify or surrender them to the Cook County sheriff within 14 days of the enactment. Failure to comply with the Ordinance would result in criminal penalty including a fine and possible imprisonment.

The Ordinance was amended again in 1999 to modify sections not at issue in this appeal; however, additional prefatory language was included to support the ban as necessary in order to protect the public welfare by reducing violent crime and the huge costs associated with those crimes. The Commissioners indicated that the revisions were based not only on the prolific black-market sales of weapons, but those by licensed dealers. The Commissioners cited undercover investigations and studies conducted by Cook County, the City of Chicago, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which indicated that weapons utilized in the commission of crimes are traced to licensed gun dealerships. Cook County Ordinance No. 99 — O—27 (amended November 23, 1999).

On November 14, 2006, the Ordinance was amended to apply to both assault weapons and large capacity magazines and expand the list of banned weapons and definition of those weapons. In addition, the time period for removal, surrender, or rendering inoperable was expanded from 14 to 90 days. Cook County Ordinance No. 06 — O—50 (amended November 14, 2006). The Ordinance was also amended in 2007 to change the name to the Blair Holt Assault Weapons Ban. Cook County Ordinance No. 07 — O—36 (adopted June 19, 2007).

As for the specific provisions, section 54 — 211 of the Ordinance provides definitions of assault weapon, detachable magazine, large capacity magazine, muzzle brake and muzzle compensator. Cook County Code of Ordinances §54 — 211 (eff. January 1, 1994). The definition of “assault weapon” contains six subcategories that provide physical characteristics of semiautomatic rifles, pistols and shotguns, as well as conversion kits that are banned as assault weapons. Cook County Code of Ordinances §§54 — 211(1) through (6) (eff. January 1, 1994). The seventh subcategory contains a nonexhaustive list of banned rifles, pistols and shotguns, and copies or duplicates of these models. Cook County Code of Ordinances §54 — 211(7) (eff. January 1, 1994).

Plaintiffs filed the instant cause of action as law-abiding residents of Cook County. Each plaintiff indicated that he had never been convicted of a crime, had a properly issued firearm owner’s identification card, and legally purchased guns that were subject to the Ordinance’s ban. Plaintiffs indicated the guns were owned as part of collections, for self-defense, or for recreational purposes. This appeal followed the trial court’s dismissal of plaintiffs’ complaint pursuant to section 2 — 615 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

II. ANALYSIS

A motion to dismiss under section 2 — 615 of the Code of Civil Procedure challenges the legal sufficiency of a complaint based on facial defects of the complaint. Borowiec v. Gateway 2000, Inc., 209 Ill. 2d 376, 413 (2004). This court conducts a de novo review of a trial court’s ruling on the sufficiency of a motion to dismiss. U.S. Bank National Ass’n v. Clark, 216 Ill. 2d 334, 342 (2005). While allegations in the complaint are viewed in a light most favorable to the plaintiff, the decision to dismiss a case may be affirmed on any basis contained within the record. Gallagher Corp. v. Russ, 309 Ill. App. 3d 192, 196 (1999). We begin with a discussion of the holding in Heller and then address plaintiffs’ arguments in turn.

A. District of Columbia v. Heller

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Bluebook (online)
914 N.E.2d 595, 394 Ill. App. 3d 534, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wilson-v-cook-county-illappct-2009.