East Central Reporter

State Rep. Adam Niemerg (R-Teutopolis) said during a recent appearance that he is ready to stand firm to project the Second Amendment after Illinois lawmakers passed a ban on assault weapons and Gov. JB Pritzker signed the legislation into law.

Illinois recently passed sweeping gun legislation banning assault weapons; and within days of Pritzker signing the legislation into law, three lawsuits were filed in federal court claiming the legislation violates the State Constitution; a New York Times report said. 

"For a long time now, I and many other leaders in the Illinois General Assembly have prioritized getting the most dangerous weapons off our state's streets,” Pritzker said in a Jan. 10 press release upon signing the bill. “Today, honoring the commitment we made, we passed one of the strongest assault weapons bans in the nation, one I will be proud to sign.”

Niemerg noted that supporters of the legislation claim the new weapons ban will curb senseless acts of violence.

“They believe they have finally solved the crisis,” he said in the statement, quoted by the East Central Reporter. “But, what is the basis for their claims? We have some of the most stringent gun control laws in the country, yet crime is still a major issue in the state of Illinois.”

Niemerg also questioned how the law will accomplish everything its supporters claim it will do, adding that if gun control were a solution, the problem would have been solved years ago.

“Gun control advocates in Springfield are the same people who pushed the SAFE-T Act and other policies that put habitual career criminals back on the streets,” he said. “Woke progressive states attorneys will not prosecute acts of gun violence in their counties, they'll call it mutual combat yet they will prosecute honest citizens who wish to exercise their constitutional right to keep and bear arms.”

The legislation sparked the National Rifle Association to file a lawsuit, claiming the law “takes the radical step of banning nearly every modern semiautomatic rifle — the single-most popular type of rifle in the country, possessed by Americans in the tens of millions." a recent NBC Chicago report said.

Niemerg maintained in the statement that the law impedes the rights of law-abiding citizens.

“It infringes on their rights by preventing them from buying firearms that are legal in nearly every other state,” he said. “It selectively applies our constitutional rights to certain citizens but denies those rights to others. The new law essentially treats the Second Amendment like a privilege rather than a right, which is what it is.”

The legislation is finding resistance elsewhere in the state including DuPage County, where Sheriff James Mendrick indicated that he will not enforce the ban; a recent WLS report said. 

"There is absolutely nothing that we are doing or not doing that would make a mass shooting more accessible in DuPage County," Mendrick said in a statement, quoted by WLS. "In fact, I have asked on multiple occasions to increase penalties on all existing gun crimes..."

Niemberg further stated that Americans do not have to get permission from the government to exercise their rights; and honest citizens, who are not causing gun violence, are being punished by the new law.

“Stripping honest citizens of their rights won't solve the problem,” he said in the statement. “More laws are not the solution. We must address the root cause of gun violence. We must help troubled youth get the mental health care they need and we must as a society elevate and promote the family as the Bedrock of Who We Are. Let's focus on real solutions and let's stop infringing on the rights of honest citizens. Our Second Amendment is not subject to a governor's political narrative or presidential aspirations.”