A former candidate for Illinois Attorney General has filed the first lawsuit against the new assault weapons ban.
Attorney Thomas DeVore filed the suit in Effingham County this morning, naming Governor J.B. Pritzker, State Senate President Don Harmon, Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, and Attorney General Kwame Raoul in the suit.
According to WAND, an emergency hearing has been scheduled for 11:00 am Wednesday when DeVore will seek a temporary restraining order on the ban, which Pritzker signed into law one week ago today.
Opponents of the law that prohibits the sale of assault rifles, rapid-fire devices, and magazines over 12 rounds, say it violates their Second Amendment rights, including the Illinois Rifle Association and Illinois Sheriff’s Association.
To date, more than 70 county sheriffs in the state have vowed to defy some or all portions of the weapons ban, including now every county in the WLDS/WEAI listening area save for Morgan County, which as of press time has still not released any kind of statement on the matter.
The similar statements started being released soon after the measure was signed last week. Since then Jim Kaitschuk, Executive Director of the Illinois Sheriff’s Association has said he drafted the release which nearly all of the sheriff’s offices began to use or modify.
On Thursday, Pritzker fired back saying the sheriffs took an oath of office to uphold the law, and he expected them to do that job, and that they don’t get to choose which laws people are going to follow.