Gun Groups Ask Supreme Court to Strike Down Illinois Carry Ban On Public Transportation
Gun groups have petitioned the Supreme Court to hear Schoenthal v. Raoul, a lawsuit asking the Court to overturn the Seventh Circuit’s decision upholding Illinois’s ban on carrying firearms on public transportation.
The appellate court’s ruling, the petition explains, shreds the clear command of the Constitution and defies the Supreme Court’s Second Amendment precedents.
Originally filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in 2022, the lawsuit challenges Illinois’ ban on carrying firearms on public transit. The state requires residents to obtain a Firearm Owners Identification Card (FOID) and a concealed carry license to lawfully carry a firearm in public.
Even with both the FOID card and a carry license, however, Illinois bans carrying a firearm on “…any bus, train, or form of transportation paid for in whole or in part with public funds, and any building, real property, and parking area under the control of a public transportation facility paid for in whole or in part with public funds.”
“The Seventh Circuit’s dangerous opinion was legally, historically, and morally wrong,” said Firearms Policy Coalition President Brandon Combs. “The Supreme Court must step in and make clear that the right to bear arms for self-defense doesn’t stop when you step onto a bus, train, or subway.”
“There simply is no historical support for the idea that all modes of public transit are ‘sensitive places’ where carry can be banned,” said Second Amendment Foundation Executive Director Adam Kraut. “Lower courts have struggled with understanding what a ‘sensitive place’ actually is and how limited their scope must be under the Second Amendment. This case is a great opportunity for the Court to clarify the proper unifying principle and correct the circuit courts that have gone astray.”
But the right to bear arms for self-defense does not vanish the moment a citizen boards a bus or subway, the brief opines.
The petition said millions of Americans rely on public transportation every day—and they don’t surrender their rights when they do. The Supreme Court’s review is urgently needed to restore clarity, reaffirm the Constitution, and end the lower courts’ retreat from fundamental liberties.
The District Court granted summary judgment in favor of SAF and its partners in the case, agreeing that the public transit carry ban was unconstitutional. The state appealed, however, and the Seventh Circuit overturned the ruling, finding the ban was indeed constitutional. SAF is joined in the case by the Firearms Policy Coalition and three private citizens.
“As we’ve all regrettably seen on the evening news recently, traveling on public transit can be extremely dangerous,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “The problem lies not with the law-abiding gun owner who wants to carry a firearm for self-defense. Rather, the problem is leaving people with no means of protecting themselves against those who prey on people in a target-rich environment. Disarming regular citizens only further disadvantages the assaulted while having no bearing on their assaulters.”
