![]() "There is a mechanism if the constituents are not in favor of the stances these sheriffs are taking. "No matter what is said on the political side of this, the sheriffs report only to the people of their constituencies," Tipsword said. Regardless, Tipsword said, sheriffs answer to one group - the voters. Kaitschuk said local sheriffs would be hard-pressed to know who owned such weapons unless those gun owners don’t voluntarily comply with the law, suggesting it would be ridiculous to go door-to-door to find out, according to Capitol News Illinois. "This is mostly regulatory, and that's the state police's mandate." "What do I have to enforce?" he asked of the new law, noting the ISP has been tasked with handling firearm sales and registration. Yet, to him, the entire matter comes down to one thing. Tazewell County's Lower said his deputies are expected to use their common sense and their training to protect citizens within his county, but given the complexities of law enforcement, officers and deputies often have to use discretion on the streets. "They can't pick and choose based upon their own sense of what is constitutional and what is not." "While it is true that, absolutely, a law enforcement agency can decide priorities for themselves, what they can't do is say, 'This crosses the line and we are not going to focus on this because it is unconstitutional,'" he said. What can sheriffs do?Įd Yohnka, a spokesman with the Illinois Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said sheriffs are to enforce the law, not interpret it. Clair and McHenry counties, filed a federal lawsuit in the Southern District of Illinois against Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Brendan Reilly, who heads the state police.Īnd in Effingham County, Circuit Judge Joshua Morrison indicated he could rule by Friday whether he'll issue a restraining order sought by Thomas DeVore, an attorney who ran for attorney general last year who also filed several suits challenging the state's pandemic mandates.ĭeVore filed the suit this week on behalf of an Effingham County gun shop, arguing the law sailed through the General Assembly in an improper manner. 17, the Illinois State Rifle Association, the Firearms Policy Coalition Inc., and the Second Amendment Foundation, along with two gun stores in St. They don’t get to choose which laws they enforce.” "These are folks who are entrusted by the public to enforce the law. ![]() "They took an oath of office to enforce the laws of the state of Illinois, and they will do so,” he said while speaking in Chicago this month. ![]() He has called the sheriffs' positions and their letters as well as threats of lawsuits "political grandstanding." Pritzker said that refusing to enforce the new law was not right and threatened to "fire" them if they didn't. Tazewell County Sheriff Jeff Lower said in his statement that he would do everything in his power to "steadfastly protect the Second Amendment and all other individual rights guaranteed by the Constitution."Īccording to Capitol News Illinois, the sheriffs’ letters "primarily dealt with enforcing the registry portion of the assault weapons law, and Kaitschuk said he wasn’t aware of any sheriffs in his organization who don’t plan on complying with the law’s other provisions, like the ban of sales of assault weapons at Illinois gun shops." Many of the statements were worded almost exactly the same and focused on Second Amendment aspects, saying the new legislation is unconstitutional. Watkins joined dozens of sheriffs statewide who released similar statements. The real focus should be on the Mental Health Crisis that’s plaguing our communities that I see increasing every day in Peoria County." Peoria County Sheriff Chris Watkins issued this statement: "As the Sheriff of Peoria County, I oppose the legislative bill (HB 5471) that was recently passed banning law-abiding citizens from buying certain types of firearms. This is another example of Chicago policy being pushed downstate on responsible gun owners. This bill does not solve the root cause of the problem. ![]()
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