In Naperville, IL, the village of Naperville is attempting to stop the sale of “assault weapons” and “hi-capacity” magazines within the city limits. On 7/13/22, the village had a new matter to debate/discuss regarding new gun control that they sent out a memo for. The public hearing was on 7/19 at city hall. Here’s what happened (obtained via FOIA) behind the scenes 4 days after the Highland Park shooting. Keep in mind that Illinois has preemption as of 2013.
Here’s Chris Wilson mentioned in the email:
As you see, oddly, they had this proposed ordinance on deck on 7/1, which was prior to the Highland Park shooting. The shooting gave them the political cover to really milk the tragedy for their gain. Steven Elrod, who the Naperville city attorney is talking to here, is an attorney for the village of Highland Park. He is also a local IL guy that loves trying to defend AWB’s in court. As you see here, the village is going to move forward with this because it appears they have pro-Bono council representing them by Perkins Coie. Who are they? Why they help out Everytown For Gun Safety!
So here we have it. The village knows the proposed ban is BS, but they have nothing to fear because it will be defended pro-bono by Everytown allied lawyers. Dirty dirty dirty, especially because they were keeping this from the public as admitted in the email....
Update: commenter pointed this out. Other clients of Perkins Coie
Perkins Coie also helped defend Deerfield’s AWB pro-bono in 2018. And there’s Elrod’s name again....
Deerfield has a new legal team in its fight to uphold a recently passed assault weapons ban ordinance.
The Village Board of Trustees Monday unanimously appointed a legal team to defend the village against two lawsuits challenging Deerfield's recently passed ban on assault weapons.
The same team also represented Highland Park in a legal challenge that made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015.
Jonathan Lowy of the Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence and Chris Wilson of the Chicago office of Perkins Coie LLP were appointed as special counsel for the assault weapons ban litigation.
The same team also represented Highland Park in a legal challenge that made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015.
Jonathan Lowy of the Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence and Chris Wilson of the Chicago office of Perkins Coie LLP were appointed as special counsel for the assault weapons ban litigation.
Both Lowy and Wilson will be doing their work on a pro bono basis, according to Steven M. Elrod, Deerfield's new village attorney.
"It's the exact same team we used in Highland Park," said Elrod, who is also Highland Park's city attorney.
UPDATE 8/4: other towns across IL will be taking the same tactic as Naperville, and they also have the same legal representation lined up. This is the plan for municipalities it appears
NOTE: the documents provided were provided via FOIA. Do not reach out the the individuals via their phone numbers listed or emails to harass them.
It's Perkins-COIE. The same law firm that represents the Democratic National Committee. The same law firm that we recently learned hosts its own personal branch office of the FBI inside its office space, complete with a secure classified facility, paid for with your money. A public/private partnership that Mussolini would have loved.