South Central Reporter

Marion County Sheriff Kevin Cripps gathered with every police chief in the county to announce they will not be enforcing the state’s gun ban signed into law in early January by Gov. J.B. Pritzker. 

Cripps released a photograph of the police chiefs and himself, and a statement noting he would not enforce the law.

“This is every Police Chief in Marion County along side the Marion County State's Attorney and I,” Cripps posted on Facebook. “We stand together for the same cause. We are united this bill is unconstitutional. We took an Oath to uphold the Constitution and that is what we are standing for.”

Of Illinois' 102 sheriffs, 95 have noted their opposition in some form to the assault weapon ban. 

“As your duly elected Sheriff, my job and my office are sworn, in fact, to protect the citizens of Marion County. This is a job and responsibility that I take with the utmost seriousness.” Cripps said in a statement. “Part of my duties that I accepted upon being sworn into office was to protect the rights provided to all of us, in the Constitution. One of those enumerated rights is the right of the people to keep and bear arms provided under the 2nd amendment.” 

The sheriff added that “The right to keep and bear arms for defense of life, liberty and property is regarded as an inalienable right by the people."

“I, among many others, believe that HB 5471 is a clear violation of the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution,” Cripps said. “Therefore, as the custodian of the jail and chief law enforcement official for Marion County, that 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.”

At least 95 sheriffs in Illinois have said they will not enforce the ban on over 170 types of firearms. 

DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick told Chicago’s Morning Answer radio host Dan Proft that U.S. Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) called him regarding enforcement of the law and “got nasty,” Dupage Policy Journal reported. Mendrick said in addition to being unconstitutional, the law is ineffective. "There is absolutely nothing that we are doing or not doing that would make a mass shooting more accessible in DuPage County," he said. "In fact, I have asked on multiple occasions to increase penalties on all existing gun crimes, but it does not appear that they want to have that conversation.”

The Protect Illinois Communities Act, HB 5471, 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, according to Chicago City Wire.

Effingham County Judge Joshua Morrison ruled the law unconstitutional and issued a temporary restraining order. That means the ban will not be applied to the 866 plaintiffs represented by Greenville attorney Thomas DeVore until it can be heard in court. In the wake of the Effingham County challenge, nearly 1,700 additional plaintiffs have signed onto the legal action. “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, last year’s GOP candidate for attorney general, told The Center Square.