Effingham County District B Board Member Jim Niemann said the County Board made a vital decision in passing a resolution that declares the county a sanctuary for gun owners.
“It is important to let people know that with all the efforts to control firearms, there are places in Illinois that support those who wish be lawful gun owners under the Second Amendment without interference from the state legislature,” Niemann told East Central Reporter.
The resolution, which passed with a 8-1 vote, was inspired by a similar measure taken by Iroquois County. The resolution prevents employees from enforcing new state laws restricting Second Amendment rights and opposes state Legislation vetoed by Gov. Bruce Rauner that would have required the state to license gun shops.
“This all is in response to pending legislation in the Illinois’ Legislature regarding gun control and body armor,” Niemann said. “Instead of trying to repeal the Second Amendment, anti-gun advocates realize a slow and steady erosion of gun rights will eventually render the Second Amendment useless. We felt it better to oppose these issues in their early stages.”
Niemann said the resolution doesn’t violate state law.
“The wording does state that we will prohibit our employees from enforcing unconstitutional gun laws, however for a gun law to be declared unconstitutional it would need to be tried and found so by the courts,” he said. “This resolution is an effort to let the members of the Legislature and executive branch know our county is opposed to such efforts as the pending legislation. There also is no listed penalty for violating the resolution.”
While Niemann, a retired police officer, wants to protect Second Amendment rights, he said he is proponent of gun control.
“I don’t want felons, mentally unstable people or children to own or possess firearms,” he said. “Automatic weapons are already illegal which has been upheld by the courts as constitutional. I’d love to see everyone who owns a gun be trained to use it safely.”
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