Illinois gun-ban incites challenges to legislative shortcuts

By JOHN O’CONNOR
AP Political Writer

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — At a rate of one every four days, a new legal challenge has arisen to Illinois’ month-old ban on semiautomatic weapons. Four cases in federal court claim the law violates the Second Amendment. Three cases question whether the Legislature followed proper procedure in enacting the law. Those cases assert lawmakers violated state constitutional requirements on limiting legislation to a single subject, the number of public readings a bill should get before approval and the guarantee of equal protection under the law. Scholars say the Illinois Supreme Court has not shown much interest in regulating legislative procedure, but a state appellate court has granted a restraining order based on the equal protection question.