Gun expert says assault weapons ban ‘describes the most popular firearms I’m involved with’

EAST ST. LOUIS – A firearms expert testified Wednesday that the weapons restricted under Illinois’ assault weapons ban include many of the most common firearms that American consumers use for self-defense.

Steven Randall Watt, a combat veteran and retired law enforcement officer who now owns a private firearms training company, also said he personally owns many types of weapons restricted by the law, as well as large-capacity magazines that he said are an important element in self-defense.

Watt said he subscribes to the adage that says, “You never know how much ammunition you’re going to need, so you want to keep as much as possible.”

Watt was the final witness called by plaintiffs in a case challenging the constitutionality of the state’s assault weapons ban, formally known as the Protect Illinois Communities Act.

Illinois lawmakers passed that law in January 2023 in response to the many mass shootings that have occurred in recent years involving gunmen using assault-style weapons. Among those was the shooting at a Fourth of July parade the previous summer in Highland Park that left seven people dead and dozens more injured or traumatized.

The law prohibits the manufacture, sale and possession by most people of a long list of firearms that are defined as “assault weapons.” Those include various kinds of semiautomatic rifles, pistols or shotguns that have features such as detachable magazines, adjustable stocks and flash suppressors.

“That description describes the most popular firearms I’m involved with,” Watt said when read provisions of the law defining assault weapons.

By showing the banned weapons are commonly used by people for legal activities such as self-defense, plaintiffs in the case hope to convince the court that they are protected under the Second Amendment, which guarantees the right to keep and bear arms.

Lawyers for the state were scheduled to begin calling their witnesses Wednesday afternoon, and the trial could wrap up as early as Thursday.

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