Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,
A federal appeals court on July 9 upheld Illinois’s ban on the sale and possession of “assault weapons” and large capacity magazines, overturning a lower court ruling that had blocked enforcement of the law.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Protect Illinois Communities Act into law in January 2023 after a gunman killed seven people in a 2022 shooting during an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago. A federal judge overturned the law in 2024, finding it violated the Second Amendment right to bear arms, but the injunction was later stayed after the state appealed.
In a 2–1 decision on July 9, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit concluded that the state’s ban is “consistent with the principles that underpin our nation’s tradition of firearm regulation.”
“In short, legislatures have long imposed restrictions on particularly dangerous weapons, and the Act is but another chapter in that story,” the order stated.
The appeals court said that semiautomatic rifles are rarely used for self-defense, citing an analysis that found handguns accounted for the majority of defensive gun uses.
Circuit Judge Michael Brennan dissented, saying the Illinois law contradicts the nation’s regulatory traditions that “forbid governments from prohibiting firearms commonly owned for self-defense.”
“Because the people have overwhelmingly chosen the AR-15 rifle and its magazine as their weapon of choice, they are protected by the Second Amendment,” the judge stated.
In a social media post, Pritzker called the ruling “a victory in the fight to end gun violence.” The governor said the state will continue enforcing its ban on “assault weapons” and high-capacity magazines.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation, a plaintiff in the case, said the appeals court erred in its ruling on modern sporting rifles (MSRs) and planned to seek the Supreme Court’s review.
“There are more than 32 million MSRs in circulation today, making these semiautomatic, centerfire rifles commonly owned and commonly used by nearly every standard,” the firearms industry trade association said in a statement.
“Likewise, there are hundreds of millions of standard-capacity magazines owned by law-abiding Americans in the United States.”
The Protect Illinois Communities Act criminalizes the sale and purchase of certain types of semiautomatic rifles and large capacity of ammunition.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a statement that the weapons ban was intended to protect public safety.
“This is a win that enhances public safety in Illinois,” he said. “We have seen the damage that assault weapons and large-capacity magazines can inflict, and these weapons of war have no place in our communities.”
The Supreme Court said last month that it will consider whether bans on semiautomatic rifles, often called “assault weapons,” violate the Second Amendment.
Tyler Durden Fri, 07/10/2026 - 12:05Summary:
Shortly after SK Hynix Chairman Chey Tae-won appeared on Bloomberg to promote the listing, the memory-chip giant's ADRs finally began trading at $170 per share, up 14% from the $149 offering price.
SK Hynix's ADRs Set For $175 Opening; Chairman Chey Tae-won Comments On BBGSK Hynix's ADRs are now indicated to open at $175, about 17% above their $149 offering price.
SK Hynix Chairman Chey Tae-won told Bloomberg's Edward Ludlow earlier that "Demand will be exponentially growing in the future."
"That actually requires a better return," Chey said, adding, "Once we have a better return, then there's more demand. The first thing we have to do is keep the stock price stable, and then hopefully in the long run we can have the upside potential."
Separately on Wall Street, Thornburg Investment Management analyst Di Zhou noted, "We are currently in this memory super cycle. Fundamentals are very strong and SK Hynix is one of the highest quality pure-play memory players globally."
SK Hynix's ADRs Set to Open At PremiumSK Hynix's ADRs, trading under the temporary ticker SKHYV, are indicated to open at $181 per share, 22% above their $149 offering price. The strong opening suggests robust investor demand for the world's leading supplier of high-bandwidth memory.
As noted earlier, SK Hynix sold 177.9 million ADRs at $149 per share, raising roughly $26.5 billion. Each receipt represents one-tenth of a Seoul-listed common share.
The temporary trading symbol SKHYV will switch to SKHY when regular-way trading begins next Monday.
Roth Capital Partners' sales trading team asked:
One may ask how investors, looking back in two years, will come to view the timing and meaning of SK Hynix’s U.S. offering?
SK Hynix ADRs Priced At 3% Premium As Wall Street Readies Wave Of Leveraged ETFsThe next test of the AI trade arrives today, as South Korean memory-chip maker SK Hynix's American depositary receipts begin trading under the temporary ticker SKHYV.
Shares were priced at about a 3% premium to Thursday's close of its ordinary shares in South Korea. The $26.5 billion offering attracted demand for roughly seven times the shares available, forcing the chipmaker to scale back allocations to major investors, according to Bloomberg.
The company sold 177.9 million ADRs at $149 each, raising $26.5 billion, surpassing Alibaba's US debut to become the third-largest listing in history. Each ADR represents one-tenth of a Seoul-listed common share, giving US investors direct exposure to the world's leading supplier of high-bandwidth memory amid the AI boom that could soon unlock the Physical AI boom.
According to the report, Baillie Gifford, Coatue Management, and Situational Awareness Partners received about $5 billion of ADRs, roughly $2 billion less than indicated. Over 500 institutional investors placed orders, including long-only funds, technology specialists, and sovereign wealth funds. The allocation remained concentrated, with 10 investors taking half the deal and the top 25 accounting for about two-thirds.
Wall Street analysts weighed in with their first takes of the deal, courtesy of Bloomberg:
Jung In Yun, CEO at Fibonacci Asset Management
Sanghyun Park, founder of Clepsydra Capital
Travis Lundy, an independent special situations analyst who publishes on Smartkarma
Dilin Wu, a strategist at Pepperstone Group
Francis Oh, head of Asia business development at Rex Financial, which provides exchange-traded products
SK Hynix's ADR offering comes weeks after SpaceX tapped the public markets in the largest initial public offering in history, while Alphabet is raising $85 billion to fund its AI buildout. Traders are betting heavily that AI-related demand is a secular growth story for memory stocks, which have historically been viewed as more cyclical.
Bloomberg expects that the US debut of SK Hynix will unlock a new "wave of leverage ETFs" tied to the chipmaker's American depositary receipts. It expects ProShares, Leverage Shares and Rex Shares are some of the fism planning to products taht offer 2x daily returns on the memory chip giant.
Bloomberg Intelligence noted:
A fresh pool of leveraged US-listed ETPs would mean the daily rebalancing flows would grow larger, potentially fueling already heightened volatility. The size of the leveraged products also made it difficult to meet the promise of delivering twice daily returns, creating a tracking gap.
The key question is whether SK Hynix's blockbuster ADR offering can juice memory stocks again, especially after our note earlier this week, "South Korea Falls Into Bear Market As Memory Euphoria Fizzles."
Tyler Durden Fri, 07/10/2026 - 11:55New video shows emergency responders loading Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) onto a stretcher and into an ambulance outside his Capitol Hill residence on the morning of June 14, the same day the longtime Senate Republican leader was hospitalized.
The neighbor-recorded footage, first published Friday by CNN, depicts emergency vehicles - including multiple ambulances and a fire truck - clogging the street near McConnell's home as first responders wheel a person identified by witnesses as the 84-year-old senator toward an ambulance. The individual's face is not clearly visible in the video, but their lower legs and feet were seen under an orange blanket.
BREAKING BOMBSHELL
New audio and video have been leaked showing Sen. Mitch McConnell being loaded by stretcher into an ambulance when transported to the hospital - EMS recordings conform they found an unknown person who was "unconscious" due to "cardiac arrest," with "CPR in… pic.twitter.com/F5Aug8pmg8
The video adds new weight to emergency dispatch audio previously obtained by an independent journalist and reported by CNN. In that recording, responders were dispatched to McConnell's known address for an "unconscious" person experiencing a "cardiac arrest," with a paramedic heard saying "CPR in progress."
A neighbor who spoke with CNN said officers described it only as a "medical emergency" at the time but confirmed through another eyewitness that the person on the stretcher was McConnell. No sirens were used as the ambulance left the scene.
Prolonged Hospitalization Raises QuestionsMcConnell has remained hospitalized for nearly a month. His office has released only terse updates saying he is "receiving excellent care" and "continues his recovery," with few specifics on his condition or prognosis. The opacity has fueled rampant speculation in Washington political circles and on social media.
Some Republican allies, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune and commentator Scott Jennings, have said they've spoken with McConnell recently and described his voice as strong. Still, the lack of detailed medical disclosures stands in contrast to the public nature of the emergency response now coming into view. Others mocked it as covering up for 'weekend at Mitch's.'
I spoke to McConnell for about 20 minutes this morning.
He said we should end the war with Iran, quit giving aid to Israel, stop spying on Americans without a warrant, and he’s really sorry about how my primary turned out.
The incident marks the latest health scare for McConnell, who has a well-documented history of falls, concussions and other episodes. As a towering figure in Senate Republican politics for decades, his extended absence continues to ripple through the chamber and the broader party.
BREAKING NEWS: Sen. Mitch McConnell appearing to have another scary episode in the media gaggle in Covington today. Aides had to step in to help him out and repeat questions. He was eventually lead away. We'll have the full video on @WLWT pic.twitter.com/q9ex5MHxLV
— Hannah Thomas (@HannahPThomas) August 30, 2023McConnell's office declined to comment on the new video or audio.
This story is developing.
Tyler Durden Fri, 07/10/2026 - 11:45