(DailyVantage.com) – Gun control has been a significant issue for members of the Left. Democratic states such as New York, New Jersey, and Illinois have enacted or tried to enact legislation limiting which guns people can own and whether they can carry them in public. However, Second Amendment rights supporters are taking quick action.
Assault Weapons Ban
On Tuesday, January 10, Governor J. B. Pritzker signed an assault weapons ban into law. The Protect Illinois Communities Act effectively prohibits “the sale and distribution” of high-capacity magazines, assault weapons, and switches. It went into effect immediately. Additionally, the release stated individuals who own semi-automatic rifles must register the “weapons of war” by January 1, 2024, so law enforcement can hold the owners “accountable if they fall into the wrong hands.” Those who fail to register could face class 2 felonies.
The law immediately faced pushback from Second Amendment advocates and others.
Sheriffs Say “No”
On January 11, Darby Boewe, the Edwards County sheriff, posted on Facebook that he believes the law is a “clear violation of the 2nd Amendment.” Just three days later, the Lake & McHenry County Scanner reported the total number of sheriffs who refused to comply was up to 80, which means only 22 counties will enforce the new law. Pritzker quickly rebuked them, saying, “they took an oath of office to uphold the law … I expect them to do that job.”
Not everyone was against the measure. Sheriffs Tom Dart of Cook County and John Idleburg of Lake County both support the law.
Like many other recently enacted gun laws, such as the one in New York limiting where firearms owners can carry their concealed weapons, lawsuits are likely to follow.
Not His First Rodeo
This measure isn’t the first time Gov. Pritzker has enacted new gun control measures. He has signed two into law in the last two years. In 2021, he signed House Bill 562, which expands background checks to anyone buying any gun in the state. The law goes into effect next year.
In 2022, Pritzker signed HB4383 into law, placing a ban on all ghost guns in the state. Nobody can own or buy the weapons, which are typically privately made and have no serial numbers, so they’re virtually untraceable. That law went into effect immediately after its signing.
Pritzker’s office might see Illinois as a “trailblazer,” but many others see his actions as an infringement on their constitutional right to bear arms.
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