Background
Lashaun Lashley was convicted in Cook County of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon (UUWF) and two counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon (AUUW). The charges all arose from his possession of one firearm. Lashley had a prior felony conviction and did not have a valid Firearm Owner’s Identification card or concealed-carry license.
The trial court imposed three concurrent three-year prison terms. Lashley appealed, arguing that the UUWF and AUUW provisions were facially unconstitutional under the Second Amendment and New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen. Alternatively, he argued that the two AUUW convictions violated Illinois’s one-act, one-crime rule.
The Court’s Holding
The appellate court vacated the two AUUW convictions. The State conceded that all three convictions rested on the same physical act—possession of a single firearm—and Illinois law permits only one conviction for multiple offenses based on precisely that same act. Because AUUW was the less serious offense, the court vacated those convictions and directed correction of the mittimus.
The court affirmed Lashley’s UUWF conviction. Without deciding whether felons fall outside the Second Amendment’s plain-text protection at the first step of Bruen, the court held that firearm prohibitions for felons are consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. Thus, Lashley’s facial constitutional challenge failed.
Key Takeaways
- Multiple firearm convictions based solely on possession of one gun violate the one-act, one-crime rule.
- Where UUWF and AUUW convictions arise from the same act, the less serious AUUW convictions must be vacated.
- Illinois’s felon-in-possession statute survives a facial Second Amendment challenge under the historical-tradition inquiry described in Bruen.
Why It Matters
The order reinforces Illinois appellate decisions treating prohibitions on firearm possession by felons as historically grounded and constitutional under Bruen. It also illustrates that concurrent sentences do not cure a one-act, one-crime violation; surplus convictions must be vacated.