A candidate for the Illinois state legislature has joined a growing movement of Second Amendment advocates in refusing to comply with the state’s latest gun control laws, which make it a criminal act to possess certain types of firearms without first entering them into a state registry.
Darren Bailey, a former candidate for governor who is running in the Republican primary election for Illinois’ 12th Congressional District, has openly challenged Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker to come to his home and attempt to enforce the gun control measure he signed into law.
The Illinois law bans the sale, possession, or manufacturing of dozens of specific brands or types of rifles and handguns, including rapid-firing devices, 50-caliber guns, and attachments. No rifle will be allowed to accommodate more than 10 rounds, with a 15-round limit for handguns.
Those who previously purchased such guns were required under penalty of law to register them with the Illinois State Police by Jan. 1. Under state law, gun owners of the recently prohibited weapons are grandfathered from the state’s ban as long as they filled out the necessary paperwork.
“There is this LAW with an ORDER and if you violate it threatening to kill yourself and the people who come to enforce the law then that might just get you detained pretrial [sic],” Mr. Peters wrote.
Text of the law states that being out of compliance could lead to a Class A misdemeanor for the first offense or a Class 3 felony for the second and subsequent offenses.
‘Tired of Being Pushed Around’
“The people of this state are tired of being pushed around, and you can see that by the numbers, which are a little over 1 percent, that they just aren’t having it anymore,” Mr. Pearson told The Epoch Times.“The governor has really dug itself quite the hole. Too many people see what is happening and have stopped listening to all the nonsense.
“If the people want to engage in civil disobedience, we understand that it is an American tradition, and this governor is not going to make us do things we know goes against the Constitution,” he added.
Illinois has been increasingly plagued by criminal activity. Most of the state’s violence has occurred in Chicago, where crime has also been on the rise despite having already achieved record highs. In 2023, 11,051 robberies were reported, up from 8,982 in 2022, according to a Chicago Police Department year-end review. Vehicle thefts increased 37 percent, from 21,370 in 2022 to 29,287 in 2023. The city also saw increases in both sexual assaults and aggravated battery.
Gun rights advocacy groups claim that firearms are a constitutionally protected right and that a citizenry’s ability to protect itself can serve as a powerful deterrent to criminal activity.
The Illinois State Rifle Association is preparing an appeal for the U.S. Supreme Court to find the entire law unconstitutional. Their filing is due in March, according to Mr. Pearson, who believes they have an excellent chance of prevailing.
“A lot of people who aren’t complying are hunkering down and waiting for the court to act because they think we will win this thing,” said Mr. Pearson. “The law is so egregious that I believe we have a great shot.”
Mr. Pearson said his organization is doing whatever it can to support its membership short of advocating the breaking of the law. It has moved its weapons out of the state and suggests each individual act according to their own moral code.
“We didn’t register anything, but we cannot support violating the law,” said Mr. Pearson. “It is up to every person to make their own decision and act on their own conscience on what they think is the best way to react to this overreach.
“The problem is that when these people get elected to the state legislature and then they think they have been anointed as God—and they’re not,” he added.
