(Center Square) – After the Supreme Court of the United States said Pending cases challenging Illinois' gun ban are not accepted until a final decision is made by an appeals court. They go back to the lower courts.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas declined to hear cases brought by Illinois residents challenging gun bans. Opposing sides of the debate have different views on Tuesday's outcome.

Governor JB Pritzker issued a ban on the sale and possession of more than 170 semi-automatic firearms and magazine capacities in Illinois in January 2023.

Several cases initially moved through the district and appellate courts, but no final rulings have been issued. Thomas declined to grant the plaintiffs' requests that the Supreme Court take up the cases without a final ruling.

“This Court is rightly cautious about taking cases on a preliminary basis,” Thomas wrote. “But I hope we will consider the important issues raised by these petitions after the cases are finally decided.”

Gun control groups announced the decision not to accept the cases.

“The Supreme Court's decision means that Illinoisans' protections from assault weapons and high-capacity magazines remain in effect. This is good news for all of us,” John Schmidt, board member of Gun Violence Prevention PAC, said in a statement.

Hannah Hill, executive director of the National Foundation for Gun Rights, said Illinoisans still have their Second Amendment rights violated, but the ruling was about procedure rather than substance.

“And Judge Thomas gave all of us hope when he essentially said let's go through the facts and if the Seventh Circuit persists and says the same thing, then we're ready to take the case,” Hill told The Center Square.

Yolanda Androzzo, executive director of One Aim Illinois, an organization that advocates for stricter gun laws, said she was pleased that the gun ban will remain in place “at least for now.”

“As the fight over this law continues in the district courts, we remain committed to advocating for common sense gun control measures that protect our citizens,” Androzzo said in a statement.

Hill said that while Illinois' gun ban remains in effect, Thomas' opinion shows that the law's days are numbered, given his criticism of the appeals court's decision last year.

“He used the terms 'nonsensical', 'artificial', 'highly suspect' and said bluntly: 'It is difficult to see how the [Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals] could have concluded that the most widely used semi-automatic rifles are not weapons protected by the Second Amendment.”

State Rep. Bob Morgan (D-Deerfield) supported the gun ban, saying Tuesday's ruling “keeps weapons of war” off the streets.

“I applaud the U.S. Supreme Court for allowing common-sense gun reform to proceed in Illinois,” Morgan said. “Every day that assault rifles and high-capacity magazines are banned in Illinois means fewer gun deaths and less gun violence.”

Gun rights activist Todd Vandermyde said the revelers had failed to recognize the signs of the times – the order reaffirmed an earlier precedent protecting Second Amendment rights.

“Obviously you haven’t read the author of [New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen]Judge Thomas's comment that the standard used by the Seventh Circuit was simply contrived,” Vandermyde said.

Thomas said he believes “the Illinois ban is highly questionable because it largely prohibits the use of common semi-automatic firearms for legal purposes.”

“The Seventh Circuit's contrived 'nonmilitary' limitation on Second Amendment-protected weapons appears to be inconsistent with either text or history,” Thomas wrote. “And even by its own standards, the Seventh Circuit's application of the definition is nonsensical.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit could take up the case sometime after a separate hearing in federal court for the Southern District of Illinois, which is scheduled for Sept. 16 in East St. Louis.

Attorney General Kwame Raoul said he would “vigorously defend” the constitutionality of the gun ban.

“The law is an important part of a multi-pronged approach to combating gun violence, and I am glad it remains in effect in Illinois,” Raoul said in a statement.

The Illinois State Rifle Association said Tuesday's decision had no impact on the future course of the district court's case.

“There is too much at stake and ISRA remains on the front lines, continuing to fight back against Governor Pritzker and the anti-gun legislators in Springfield on behalf of 2.4 million law-abiding and responsible gun owners in Illinois,” said ISRA Executive Director Richard Pearson.

Federal Judge Stephen McGlynn of the Southern District of Illinois has said he plans to act quickly on the case. Last year, McGlynn suspended the law on interim grounds while the case was being considered. The appeals court overturned that move and later ruled against it.