Gun owners are voting with their feet, and they are staying away in droves from registering their popular sporting rifles with the state. This comes on the heels of the law signed into effect by Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) banning these firearms.
The law is the grossly misnamed Protect Illinois Communities Act. Pritzker put his signature on it last January, and legal challenges were immediately mounted. Under the controversial statute, Illinois gun owners must register their weapons with the state by Jan. 1, 2024 or potentially face felony charges.
As long as owners of the banned weapons comply with the state, they will be “grandfathered” in.
The legal battle reached the Illinois Supreme in August. Gun store owners vehemently argued that the sweeping ban is “blatantly unconstitutional,” but their pleas fell on deaf ears. Instead, the state’s high court declared that the act did not run afoul of either the U.S. Constitution or state law.
So, how’s that registration drive coming?
According to Illinois State Police, there are 2,415,481 gun owners within its borders. Four weeks into the mandatory period to reveal details of their firearms to state officials, precisely 2,430 gun owners have registered their weapons, accessories, or .50 caliber firearms.
Simple math shows that’s a scant .1006% of the state’s legal owners of weapons. Roughly one per every thousand of these otherwise law-abiding citizens.
And instead of picking up steam as the state deadline approaches, the opposite phenomenon is happening. As weeks go by, Firearm Owners Identification Card (FOID) holders are filling out the required forms less and less.
It is glaringly apparent there is a massive case of civil disobedience rising in the Land of Lincoln. The people simply are not complying with a law deemed unconstitutional and widely perceived as a first step toward gun confiscation.
It should be noted that not every FOID holder owns an AR-15 or similar firearm, but many do. It is the most popular sporting rifle among American gun owners, so the ratio in Illinois is assuredly high.
So, the reaction from gun owners is a powerful statement to political leaders. Organizations that defend Second Amendment rights are on the record opposing this state overreach and advising those who possess the newly banned weapons to keep quiet about them.
Further, several law enforcement leaders in Illinois, particularly south of Chicago, went on record in defiance of the ban. The more outspoken authorities pledged not to arrest or charge persons whose only offense was ownership of these popular weapons that fell out of favor with the state government.
Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain is one of more than two dozen of his brethren who boldly proclaimed their stand against the act.
“We are not going to be putting them in handcuffs and slapping a felony charge on them, maybe take it for safekeeping, but we don’t want to ruin someone’s life on something they are confused about.”
McHenry County Sheriff Robb Tadelman agreed. “This bill puts us in a bind on the oath we took as sheriffs to uphold the Constitution and constitution of Illinois.”
Despite the setback with the state Supreme Court, a broad challenge to the “Protect Illinois Communities Act” is ongoing. Gun Owners of America, Guns Save Life, the Federal Firearms Licensees of Illinois and the Aurora Sportsman’s Club are joined in a suit against the overreach.
Nine states besides Illinois and the District of Columbia have these draconian laws on the books. Five others, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey and New York mandate registration of semiautomatic weapons possessed before the ban.
