Metro East Sun

St. Clair County Sheriff Richard Watson said he will not be enforcing the state’s assault weapon ban signed into law in early January by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Watson has joined other sheriffs and state's attorneys who expressed the same opposition to HB 5471 being enacted into law.

“As Sheriff of St. Clair County, I would like to give our citizens an update on the recent passage of Illinois House Bill 5471, also known as the Protect Illinois Communities Act,” Watson said in a statement. “I am extremely disappointed in the passage and enactment of HB 5471, that further regulates and limits the purchase of a variety of weapons for lawful gun owners. I have opposed this legislation throughout its development and remain opposed to the bill as passed by the Illinois General Assembly and signed by Governor J.B. Pritzker.” 

Watson said, "I will continue to advocate on behalf of all St. County residents and our dedicated law enforcement officers.” 

“As the chief law enforcement officer of St. Clair County, I am very concerned and disturbed by the ongoing and escalating violence that occurs throughout our State and Country, Watson said. “I understand that our nation has witnessed frequent tragedies involving gun violence and I am in no way attempting to minimize the impact these events have had. However, I do not believe we should limit the protections that have been guaranteed to law abiding citizens in the United States Constitution. I look forward to working with members of the Illinois Sheriff's Association and our elected legislators to provide common sense laws to address the many issues we face without limiting protections guaranteed in the constitution. Many of our legislators have already promised there will be challenges to this new law and I will be supportive to any constitutional challenges that may occur.”

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 and “got nasty” regarding enforcement of the law. 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, Chicago City Wire reported,

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.