Governor Pritzker of Illinois recently signed into law the “Protect Illinois Communities Act”. The bill will, rather than leading to a crack down on criminals in Chicago responsible for much of the violence in the state, crack down on average Illinois gun owners.
Under the new law, the sale, delivery, and purchase of so-called “assault weapons” and “high-capacity magazines” is banned, with long guns limited to 10 rounds and handguns limited to 15 rounds. Further, devices that make it easier to shoot a semi-automatic rifle faster have been banned by the law as well.
Well, a number of Illinois sheriffs have decided that they won’t enforce the new law, which they see as blatantly unconstitutional. That news comes from WNBD, which reported that:
Edwards County Sheriff Darby Boewe, LaSalle County Sheriff Adam C. Diss, Knox County Sheriff Jack C. Harlan, Jr., Wabash County Sheriff J. Derek Morgan, Wayne County Sheriff Chris Otey and White County Sheriff Jordan Weiss announced that they do not plan to enforce the newly enacted assault weapons ban, according to identical letters released Wednesday.
Announcing its refusal to back the new law, the Wabash County Sheriff’s Office said, in a letter posted to its Facebook account:
As your sheriff, I wanted to give citizens of Wabash County an update on the recent passage of HB 5471, also known as the Protect Illinois Communities Act.
As your duly elected sheriff my job and my office are sworn, in fact, to protect the citizens of [Edwards/LaSalle/Knox/Wabash/Wayne/White] County. This is a job and responsibility that I take with the utmost seriousness.
Part of my duties that I accepted upon being sworn into office was to protect the rights provided to all of us, in the Constitution. One of those enumerated rights is the right of the people to keep and bear arms provided under the 2nd amendment.
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The right to keep and bear arms for defense of life, liberty and property is regarded as an inalienable right by the people.
I, among many others, believe that HB 5471 is a clear violation of the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution.
Therefore, as a Custodian of the Jail and Chief Law Enforcement Official for Wabash County, that neither myself nor my office will be checking to ensure that lawful gun owners register their weapons with the state, nor will we be arresting or housing law abiding individuals that have been arrested solely with non-compliance with this act.
That letter was released in identical form by the other, aforementioned sheriff’s offices, though the county named was replaced with the relevant one for each office.
Joining the Wabash County Sheriff’s Office was Wabash Co. State’s Attorney Kelli Storckman, who said, in a letter also posted to the Wabash County Sheriff’s Office Facebook account, that:
“I join the Sheriff of Wabash County, Illinois, and state my opposition to House Bill 5471, signed into law by Governor Pritzker on January 10, 2023.
“The RIGHT of the people of Wabash County, to keep and bear arms for the defense of life, liberty, and property is an inalienable one. When sworn in as an attorney and again when sworn in as the State;s Attorney of Wabash County I took an oath to support the Constitution of the United States of America. I cannot and will not ignore that oath. To enforce this law and make otherwise law-abiding citizens into criminals, would be to do just that.
“I remain devoted to the safety of the members of our community and I will continue to use my best efforts to combat crime within Wabash County. I invite members of the community to contact me with any questions or concerns.”
Featured image credit: Sheriff Pic from Wabash co. Sheriff’s Office Facebook