In January, the state’s sweeping ban on “assault weapons” — ostensibly to crack down on gun violence — went into effect. The legislation effectively “bans the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, along with rapid-fire devices.”

This development elicited widespread criticism from those in favor of gun rights. In fact, most of the state’s sheriffs pushed back by announcing that they would refuse to enforce the law, effectively rendering it impotent when it comes to making it harder for responsible Americans to keep and bear arms.

In less than two weeks after the ban went into effect, a judge slapped it with a temporary restraining order. “In an 11-page ruling, Judge Joshua Morrison found the law violated the US Constitution and the Illinois Constitution and directly contradicted the landmark Bruen decision by the US Supreme Court,” according to RedState’s Streiff.

But now, another official has issued a ruling stopping the enforcement of the new law. The Center Square reported:

A White County judge issued a ruling Thursday temporarily prohibiting the state from enforcing the ban on certain semi-automatic weapons and magazine capacities against 1,690 plaintiffs in the case. Among those named in the case brought by attorney Thomas DeVore are former state Sen. Darren Bailey, who ran for governor against incumbent Gov. J.B. Pritzker last year, and state Reps. Adam Niemerg, R-Dieterich, and Blaine Wilhour, R-Beecher City.

The White County TRO comes just days after the Illinois 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a TRO issued by Effingham County on Jan. 20. The appellate court’s split decision dismissed the counts alleging procedural violations of bills having three-readings, being on a single subject and having due process with public hearings, but upheld the charge the law violated the plaintiffs’ equal protections.

White County Circuit Judge T. Scott Webb argued that one of the provisions of the law which exempted employees in law enforcement from having to abide by the rule violated equal protection rights.

“The Defense argues that the Act was passed to curtail mass shootings, which have become a scourge on our nation. However, there is no legislative history to the Act that may shed light on that issue,” Webb noted. “Neither have any studies been submitted or even referenced that demonstrate a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines would alleviate mass shootings.”

But, as if having two judges act against the measure weren’t bad enough for the Gun Haters Guild™, Illinois residents are fighting back by voting with their wallets. According to FBI data, while there were 473,953 federal background checks on gun transfers in the state in January of 2022, there were 524,977 in January of 2023 — an increase of 11 percent.

So, not only are government officials standing against the new restriction on gun ownership, residents of Illinois are arming themselves at much higher rates, likely in response to the anti-gun moves being made by the legislature. In essence, this means that the gun control crowd has been shooting themselves in the foot, so to speak.

But with crime rates climbing ever higher, this development hardly comes as a surprise. With more Americans waking up to the reality that the government cannot protect them from bad actors, people are taking it upon themselves to defend their lives and property.

As I’ve pointed out previously, the tide is turning in the overall debate on gun rights, and it is not going in favor of those who would curtail your right to arm yourself. This is only the latest in a series of stories showing that many are coming around to the idea that the government should not be empowered to disarm law-abiding folks seeking to keep themselves safe.

As Democrats continue pushing for more gun control laws, we can expect to see even more of an increase in gun ownership nationwide. The more that people recognize the danger of allowing themselves to remain vulnerable to criminals, the more minds are changing in favor of the Second Amendment. Unfortunately for the left, this lesson has been lost on the anti-gunners.