Naperville’s ban on assault rifle sales is in limbo until a federal judge decides if it can go into effect Jan. 1 or should be temporarily shelved until a legal challenge from a city gun shop owner is decided in court.

In a Dec. 9 order, the city agreed not to enforce the ban until U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall rules on a preliminary injunction to stop the ordinance from taking effect at the start of the year. The injunction was requested by the National Association for Gun Rights, which filed a lawsuit challenging the law on behalf of Robert Bevis, owner of Law Weapons & Supply.

The Naperville City Council voted 8-1 in August to prohibit the sale of weapons similar to those used in mass shootings this year in Highland Park; Uvalde, Texas; and Buffalo, New York.

It will apply to Naperville’s two gun stores, Law Weapons & Supply on North Aurora Road and Range USA Naperville on Frontenac Court, and to any licensed firearms dealers in the city. Private transfers and private sales are not affected.

A federal lawsuit filed by Bevis and the National Association for Gun Rights in September calls the city’s ban “unconstitutional” and requests it be overturned.

According to legal documents filed last month, Bevis and the gun rights group contend the term “assault rifle” used in the city’s code is not technically accurate for the firearms commonly available for purchase by civilians or used by the firearms industry.

They allege it’s a charged political term “meant to stir the emotions of the public against those persons who choose to exercise their constitutional right to possess certain semi-automatic firearms that are commonly owned by millions of law-abiding American citizens for lawful purposes,” documents said.

Earlier this month, legislation was introduced in the Illinois House to ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines and eliminate the ability for most people under age 21 to obtain a gun permit.

subaker@tribpub.com