Supreme Court refuses to block Illinois assault weapons ban

The ban will stay in effect while it is being challenged in state and federal court

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The US Supreme Court declined to block a law in Illinois banning assault weapons like the AR-15 and similar rifles.

The state passed a law banning the weapons after seven people were killed last year during a mass shooting in Highland Park.

The law is currently facing legal challenges, but the Supreme Court’s decision ensures the law will still be in effect while those cases are litigated.

The bill was previously blocked in another case by a federal judge, but the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals put that judge's decision on hold, according to NBC News.

The law, which was enacted in January, prohibits any weapon falling under its definition of "assault weapon." That definition includes the AR-15 and similar rifles, which have been used in numerous mass shootings. Illinois' law also bans large capacity magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition for rifles or more than 15 rounds for handguns.

Individuals who already own the banned weapons can continue to own them legally under the new law.

There have already been several challenges to the law at the state and federal levels. Robert Bevis, a gun shop owner in Naperville, Illinois, has sued to overturn a local ordinance banning assault weapons as well as the state's law. He argues the laws infringe upon the US Constitution's Second Amendment.

Illinois ois one of 10 states with a ban on assault weapons.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court declined to block another assault weapons prohibition, that time coming from New York.