Attorney General says if sheriffs won't enforce gun ban 'there are other people there to do the job'

[January 14, 2023]  By Greg Bishop | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – With some sheriffs saying they won’t enforce Illinois’ gun ban and registry, the state’s attorney general says there are ways to “do the job.” Gun-owner rights groups are collecting plaintiffs to sue.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed Illinois’ gun ban and registry that prohibits the future sale of certain semi-automatic guns and magazines over a certain capacity. Grandfathered guns would need to be registered with Illinois State Police by the end of the year.

Sheriffs and state’s attorneys from across the state have said they won’t enforce a gun ban and registry, saying it violates Illinoians’ rights in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Absent a court order, the ban is law.

Attorney General Kwame Raoul said Friday if local law enforcement won’t act, someone will.

“As law enforcement agencies, there’s overlapping jurisdiction as well, so if they don’t do their jobs, there are other people there to do the job,” Raoul said.

Rhonda Ezell, who was a lead plaintiff in a case several years ago successfully challenging Chicago gun restrictions, said gun owners in Illinois need to stand up for their rights.

“They don’t care what color you are, where you reside, where you live, where you work. Their goal is to disarm America and they made that very clear,” Ezell told The Center Square.

She said Illinois 2.4 million gun owners need to step up and become litigants in lawsuits seeking to block the measure. Those are expected in state and federal court from a myriad of different gun-owner rights groups.

On Friday, Pritzker was asked on CNN if he is confident the measure will survive a conservative U.S. Supreme Court.

“We know the way they’re going to vote, but I have to say, we have eight states that have passed assault weapons bans. We’re the ninth state,” Pritzker said. “So we believe the Supreme Court will take into account that these are established law, have been for some time.”

Illinois State Rifle Association Executive Director Richard Pearson said there’s a clear distinction between Illinois’ law and those eight other states.

“We're the first state since the Bruin decisions the Supreme Court came down with in October,” Pearson told WMAY Friday.

Gun-rights groups say that supreme court decision against a New York law is a new precedent that requires gun laws to reflect text and tradition of the Second Amendment, rather than balancing the interests of public safety and individual rights.

Greg Bishop reports on Illinois government and other issues for The Center Square. Bishop has years of award-winning broadcast experience and hosts the WMAY Morning Newsfeed out of Springfield.