⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Seventh Circuit hears a Chicago mother's challenge to Illinois's regulation of gun dealers. Shanice Mathews alleges that repeated exposure to neighborhood shootings has left her son, identified in court as D. W., with post-traumatic stress and other disabilities. She wants the state police to require dealers near Chicago to document precautions against straw purchases: buying a gun for someone else while falsely claiming it is for yourself. Her lawsuit invokes disability and race discrimination laws. The district judge dismissed the case for lack of standing, concluding that the police lacked statutory authority to impose the requested licensing rule. The appeal asks whether the police already have that authority and whether the proposed rule is likely to reduce the child's continuing harm. Standing requires a concrete, personal injury that is actual or imminent, linked to the defendant, and likely to be remedied by a court order.

Shanice Mathews v. State of Illinois (No. 25-2182) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, argued September 29, 2026.