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The state of Illinois has been mired in legal controversies that helped define First Amendment and paternal rights across the country. Still, this Midwestern state continues to narrowly construe its citizens’ Second Amendment right to bear arms.

In National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an Illinois Supreme Court decision in which a Neo-Nazi group was permitted to march in the largely Jewish town of Skokie, Illinois. Skokie stands for the idea that the First Amendment protects the right to free speech—even when that speech is extremely unpopular.

The U.S. Supreme Court again struck down an Illinois law in Stanley v. Illinois, this time on equal protection grounds. The law at issue declared children of unmarried fathers to be wards of the State upon the death of their mother without a parental fitness hearing or proof of neglect. The Court found the law violated equal protection since such a hearing and proof were required before the State could take custody of children of married or divorced parents and unmarried mothers.

Illinois has also taken heat for its gun policy, which is one of the strictest in the nation. In Illinois, one must obtain a Firearm Owner’s Identification card (FOID) from state police before buying or possessing a gun or ammunition. Applicants can be denied FOIDs for a number of reasons; for instance, applicants will be denied if they have prior assault or battery convictions, or if they are afflicted with certain documented mental conditions. Additionally, after buying a handgun, people in Illinois must wait 72 hours before actually taking possession of it.

Some areas of Illinois enforce even more restrictive firearm laws. Chicago and a number of surrounding suburbs, for instance, have banned handguns altogether. Handgun bans have been challenged repeatedly in other states, and were recently struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller. The legality of Chicago’s handgun ban is currently being litigated in the U.S. District Court for Chicago in McDonald v. City of Chicago.

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The websites below lead to further information about Illinois law: