Peoria Standard

Mason County Sheriff Paul Gann and Mason County State’s Attorney Zachary Bryant will not be enforcing Illinois’ assault weapons ban signed into law in early January.

In a statement, Bryant and Gann announced that "pending further direction from the courts, the Mason County Sheriff's Office will not expend its limited resources to check whether otherwise law-abiding gun owners have registered their weapons with the State, nor will the Mason County Sheriff's Office be arresting or housing otherwise law-abiding individuals solely due to non-compliance with HB 5471." They also advised, "As to any possible prosecution, if the Mason County State's Attorney's Office is brought cases relating to the enforcement of HB 5471, it will exercise strict prosecutorial discretion in such circumstances, ensuring that the clearly-defined Second Amendment rights of our citizens remain undiminished.”

“Like many of you, we have concerns regarding the passage of HB 5471, which bans commonly-used firearms and firearm components in the State of Illinois. Thousands of legal gun owners have expressed fear their Second Amendment rights are in jeopardy. We want to clarify for our citizens the policy their Mason County law enforcement leaders will adopt with regard to this situation,” the pair said in a joint statement. “As with any statute passed by the legislature and signed by the governor, it is presumed constitutional. However, we are acutely aware that this statute touches on fundamental constitutional issues and is in obvious tension with United States Supreme Court precedent on the Second Amendment. Accordingly, we expect a strong court challenge to HB 5471 in short order. Trusting this legislative action will see its day in court, we remain focused on reducing violent crime.” 

Both offices, according to Bryant and Gann, "have fantastic staffs that put forth a strong effort to deter any criminal behavior. We are open to, and supportive of, new tools, techniques and laws that assist us in preventing and holding accountable the people that choose to do harm and violence to others.” 

“However, in this circumstance, the citizens of Mason County can remain confident that their local law enforcement will not turn the criminal justice system against those acting within their clearly-defined constitutional rights," Bryant and Gann said. "At the same time, we will continue to ensure that crimes involving firearms are investigated, and prosecuted according to the facts and circumstances of each case.”

Nearly 90 percent of the state’s sheriffs have said they will not enforce the ban due to constitutional violations, according to Colion Noir.

HB 5471 – The Protect Illinois Communities Act – classifies all semi-automatic weapons as assault weapons. The ban affects 170 types of guns commonly available in the state. The law requires that certain firearms be registered for $50 apiece. As many as five million firearms and ten million magazines in the state may be affected. Gun rights advocates have begun litigation against the state claiming it is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment, Chicago City Wire reported.

Effingham County Judge Joshua Morrison issued a temporary restraining order last week. That means the law will not be applied to the 866 plaintiffs represented by Greenville attorney Thomas DeVore until it can be heard in court. “We will see if the state wants to appeal. If not, we’ll work on getting this pursued to a final ruling so we can get to the merits of these issues, sooner rather than later,” DeVore told The Center Square. The plaintiffs included 862 Illinois citizens from more than 80 counties and four licensed firearms dealers.

The Center Square has reported another 1,690 plaintiffs joined a second lawsuit headed by DeVore after the Effingham County ruling. “How many plaintiffs in the second case? … I don’t want to give that away,” DeVore said. “I’m going to let the governor hang in suspense and he’ll find out … when we file this thing. I’m really pleased with the support because we’re going to go off into federal court and we’re going to get the governor's attention in a bigger way than we’ve already got.” Of the nearly 1,700 plaintiffs across 92 counties in the second case, 62 are gun stores.

The Illinois State Rifle Association, the Firearms Policy Coalition, Inc., and the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), along with several gun owners from across Illinois have filed joint action in federal court against the State of Illinois over the sweeping gun ban enacted early this month. "The Second Amendment Foundation has filed a motion for preliminary injunction in its federal court challenge of the recently-signed ban on modern semiautomatic rifles and their ammunition magazines. The case is known as Harrel v. Raoul," SAF said in a news release. "Joining SAF are the Illinois State Rifle Association, Firearms Policy Coalition, C4 Gun Store LLC, Marengo Guns, Inc. and a private citizen, Dane Harrel, for whom the case is named. They are represented by attorney David Sigale of Wheaton, Ill. The motion was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois."