Editor's note: This story was originally published in the .
After Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he expects law-enforcement officers to enforce the state鈥檚 new gun law, five area Republican sheriffs announced they will not arrest anyone solely on the basis of those regulations.
Pritzker, a Democrat, signed the Protect Illinois Communities Act Tuesday, requiring gun owners to register their semiautomatic weapons and banning the manufacture, purchase and sale of certain semiautomatic weapons, as well as large-capacity magazines and .50-caliber rifles.
Gun owners who already possess these weapons will be allowed to keep them, but they must register their guns with Illinois State Police by Jan. 1, 2024.
Bond County Sheriff James Leitschuh, Clinton County Sheriff Dan Travous, Monroe County Sheriff Neal Rohlfing and Randolph County Sheriff Jarrod Peters issued similarly worded statements on social media outlining their stand against the law. They say they consider it to be unconstitutional because they say it violates the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
鈥淎s the custodian of the jail and Chief Law Enforcement official of Randolph County, 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 of this Act,鈥� Rohlfing said in his statement.
St. Clair County Sheriff Rick Watson, a Democrat, said he is opposed to the law that was spearheaded by lawmakers from his own party, but stopped short of saying he wouldn鈥檛 arrest people who violate it.
鈥淚 understand that our nation has witnessed frequent tragedies involving gun violence and I am in no way attempting to minimize the impact these events have had,鈥� Watson said in a statement. 鈥淗owever, I do not believe we should limit the protections that have been guaranteed to law abiding citizens in the United States Constitution.鈥�
Madison County Sheriff Jeff Connor, a Republican, said in a statement that he is 鈥渁damantly against鈥� the law. In a statement issued Thursday in conjunction with Madison County State鈥檚 Attorney Tom Haine, the officials said they will await guidance from the court system before acting on the new mandates.
The Madison County Sheriff鈥檚 Office will 鈥渘ot expend its limited resources to check whether otherwise law-abiding gun owners have registered their weapons with the State, nor will the Madison County Sheriff鈥檚 Office be arresting or housing otherwise law-abiding individuals solely due to non-compliance with HB 5471.鈥�
During the signing of House Bill 5471 on Tuesday, Pritzker said law-enforcement officers they 鈥渨on鈥檛 be in their job鈥� if they don鈥檛 enforce the new mandates.
鈥淲ell you don鈥檛 get to choose which laws you comply with in the state of Illinois, let鈥檚 be clear,鈥� Pritzker said in a news conference on Tuesday.
鈥淭he fact is that yes, there are of course people who are trying to politically grandstand who want to make a name for themselves by claiming that they will not comply,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut the reality is the state police is responsible for enforcement as are all law enforcement all across this state and they will in fact do their job or they won鈥檛 be in their job.鈥�
In response to a request from the Belleville News-Democrat, Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly鈥檚 office referred the issue to the governor鈥檚 office, which released a statement Thursday specifically addressing the elected sheriffs who have come out in opposition to the law.
鈥淭his is political grandstanding at its worst,鈥� the statement said. 鈥淭he assault weapons ban is the law of Illinois. The General Assembly passed the bill and the Governor signed it into law to protect children in schools, worshippers at church, and families at parades from the fear of sudden mass murder.
Sheriffs have a constitutional duty to uphold the laws of the state, not pick and choose which laws they support and when. We鈥檙e confident that this law will hold up to any future legal challenges, but again, it is the current law of our state. Anyone who advocates for law, order, and public safety and then refuses to follow the law is in violation of their oath of office.鈥�
In their statement Thursday, Haine and Connor disagreed with the governor about whether this law is constitutional. 鈥� ... We are acutely aware that this statute touches on fundamental constitutional issues and is in obvious tension with recent and binding Supreme Court precedent on the Second Amendment,鈥� the Madison County officials said. 鈥淎mong other things, it bans many of the most popular firearms in America, firearms that are currently in common use for lawful purposes and which law-abiding citizens have legally owned for many years.
鈥淲hatever the policy justification, such a ban is hard to square with the Supreme Court鈥檚 2022 decision in Bruen, which stated simply: 鈥榯he Second Amendment protects the possession and use of weapons that are 鈥榠n common use at the time.鈥欌��
Area state lawmakers opposed to the law have said they believe it is unconstitutional.
Mike Koziatek is a reporter with the , a news partner of 漏 2024 外网天堂.
