East Central Reporter

U.S. Representative Mary Miller (R-IL) has voiced strong opposition to Governor Pritzker’s gun control measures, accusing the governor of targeting law-abiding citizens. This controversy unfolds in Illinois where a series of contentious legislation and legal challenges have sparked heated debates over Second Amendment rights.

“I proudly support the Second Amendment while Governor Pritzker works to ban law-abiding citizens from owning firearms,” Miller said on Facebook.

“The Pritzker plan is to end cash bail, Defund The Police, prevent ICE from deporting gang members, and ban you from owning a gun to protect your family.”

Pritzker discussed the issue with Jen Psaki. Psaki was previously the press secretary for the Biden Administration.

"Because of inaction in Washington on so many issues, that power has devolved to the states," Pritzker told Psaki according to a video shared by Miller on Facebook.

"And being a governor, I can say that, you know, it’s an effort that I take on with some zeal. And indeed, we’ve been successful at passing not just an assault weapons ban and a ban on high capacity magazines, a ban on switches that turn regular guns into an automatic weapon."

A legal challenge to the Protecting Illinois Communities Act, which banned over 170 types of semi-automatic firearms, faces delays, with any potential appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court unlikely to be resolved until after the Jan. 1, 2024 registration deadline for Illinois firearm owners. The lawsuit Federal Firearms Licensees of Illinois v. Pritzker challenges the constitutionality of the gun ban asserting violations of Second and Fourteenth Amendments. The coalition of plaintiffs, including Federal Firearms Licensees of Illinois, Guns Save Life and Gun Owners of America argues that the law unjustly classifies commonly owned firearms as "assault weapons" and raises concerns about registration infringing on constitutional rights. The legal challenge with broader implications for gun legislation and Second Amendment rights highlights ongoing debates and resistance among gun owners in Illinois according to Prairie State Wire.

State Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) has voiced concerns about the gun ban and the potential resistance from gun owners in the state. Halbrook noted in a recent hearing that "hundreds of thousands of people absolutely will not comply" with a registry of those firearms as a federal appeal is being considered according to a report from Chambana Sun.