The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on Thursday upheld an assault weapons ban in Cook County, Illinois.

The court noted that it had upheld a similar ordinance in 2015 in the case of Friedman v. City of Highland Park.

In this case the appellants argued that the district court should have given them the opportunity to distinguish their case from the decision in Friedman due to higher crime rates in Cook County. These crime rates, appellants stated, would justify the need for citizens to possess a more expansive variety of assault weapons for protection.

The appeals court rejected this argument, stating that the “analysis in Friedman did not rest at all on the types or frequency of crime that a Highland Park resident may face.” Furthermore, the court reiterated the importance of public safety: “If a ban on semi-automatic guns and large-capacity magazines reduces the perceived risk from a mass shooting, and makes the public feel safer as a result, that’s a substantial benefit.”