Entire County Refuses to Obey New Gun Control Law, Declares Itself Gun Owner Sanctuary

By Jack Burns

 Amid political buzzwords of “sanctuary cities” and “gun bans,”  one Illinois county decided to wade into the fray by declaring itself a  sanctuary for gun owners. 

The Effingham County board voted this past  week, 8-1, to order its employees not to enforce any laws that would “unconstitutionally restrict the Second Amendment” to the U.S. Constitution. Effingham County State’s Attorney Bryan Kibler said  the measure is meant to act as a warning shot to tell the state  legislature that the county does not want unnecessary gun control  measures, or for the sale of firearms to be jeopardized. The resolution states: 

“The Right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms is  guaranteed as an Individual Right under the Second Amendment to the  United States Constitution and under the Constitution of the State of  Illinois, and; the Right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms for defense  of Life, Liberty, and Property is regarded as an Inalienable Right by  the People of Effingham County, Illinois, and the People of Effingham  County, Illinois, derive economic benefit from all safe forms of  firearms recreation, hunting, and shooting conducted within Effingham  County using all types of firearms allowable under the United States  Constitution.”

Board member David Campbell told Fox News that the county “decided it’s time for someone to take a hard stand.” He said the board modeled their resolution on other counties which have adopted similar measures. The resolution, which Kibler said is “largely symbolic,” was  drafted by the board as a response to what it perceives as an attack on  the Second Amendment by the State of Illinois and its General Assembly. 

“So we thought … why don’t we just make this a sanctuary county  like they would for undocumented immigrants? So we did flip the script  on it,” Kibler told Fox and Friends, noting that the goal of the resolution is to make it known “to  the Illinois general assembly that if they keep on this path of  stripping away Second Amendment rights [from gun owners] there’s going  to be blowback from Southern Illinois.” 

Ever since the resolution passed inEffingham, Kibler said the county  has had numerous requests for a draft of the resolution to be passed in  other counties in the state. 

The attorney pointed to bills being  considered by the Illinois General Assembly that would restrict the  purchase of ammunition to those aged 21 and older as proof that the  state is slowly chipping away at individual freedoms. Kibler said that when the county chose to use the word “sanctuary” in their resolution they received the attention they were seeking. “The Chicago legislation comes up with new… proposals every year which take away our Second Amendment rights,” he said. 

“So  we can send a kid off to war…when he comes home…it’s going to be  illegal for him to buy a gun with more than 10 rounds in it.” Effingham County’s “sanctuary” resolution echoes Iroquois  County’s similar resolution adopted in March, decrying the consideration  of numerous gun control bills inside the Illinois General Assembly. 

In a  statement, the Iroquois County said  the current gun control measures being considered by the state  legislature will infringe on their citizens’ rights to be able to defend  themselves, engage in recreational hunting and shooting, and it will  make instant felons out of any citizen under 21 who fails to surrender  their weapons under the new proposed laws. 

Similarly, Iroquois also denounced the state General Assembly’s gun  control plans, saying they would effectively ban all private and club  owned gun ranges and make it nearly impossible for individuals who work  late at night and in dangerous jobs to wear body armor for protection,  which would conceivably include motorcyclists who wear body armor for  personal protection while cycling. The resolution in Effingham County comes just weeks after Deerfield, Illinois, voted to ban  nearly all modern weapons. While Deerfield’s ban is not symbolic,  Effingham County’s resolution really does not have any teeth to it. 

 Kibler noted that if the state decides to ban weapons as Chicago has  done, there is really nothing a county or local law enforcement can do. Residents in Deerfield were given 60 days to surrender their “assault weapons” or face fines of $1000 per day per gun. Upon careful reading of the ordinance,  it appears that residents will be left with only revolvers, .22 caliber  “plinking” rifles, and double barrel shotguns to defend their homes and  families from criminals who could not care less about the law. Fines for not disposing of the weapons range from $250 to $1000 per  day per gun for those who choose not to comply with the city’s  ordinance. 

While a fine may seem reasonable to some, as TFTP has  reported on multiple occasions,  failure to pay fines always results in police action. It is not  far-fetched to predict major turmoil and arrests in the event of  non-compliance. 

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