In the hours that followed Governor Pritzker’s signing of the assault weapon ban legislation, sheriffs from Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, JoDaviess, Ogle, Stephenson, and Winnebago Counties all announced they would not enforce the new law. Upon learning that all sheriffs from the 45th Senate District will not be enforcing the assault weapons ban in their jurisdictions, State Senator Andrew Chesney (R-Freeport) issued the following statement:
“I stand with the sheriffs that represent the law-abiding citizens in Northwest Illinois and am pleased they are drawing a line and refusing to enforce this blatant infringement on our shared constituencies’ Second Amendment rights. They recognize, as I do, that this new law is unconstitutional. The Legislature must stop going after lawful citizens. We need to lock up law breakers, and stop chipping away at the personal freedoms that were granted by our forefathers to lawful citizens.”