On Jan. 10, Gov. JB Pritzker made the decision to ban assault weapons in Illinois. Multiple sheriffs across the state have refused to enforce this ban as they stated it is a violation of the second amendment- the right to bear arms.

According to abc7Chicago, civilians are calling sheriff’s offices, questioning what the police will do about the people that already own assault weapons, and how they will convince them to register their assault weapons. 

DuPage County board president Deborah Conroy insisted on the ban because of the incident during the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park. New gun legislation was released after a deadly mass shooting during the annual July Fourth parade. 

According to ABC News, the new law bans assault weapons, including or consisting of some semi-automatic firearms, along with high-capacity magazines and rapid-firing devices. 

According to the Feinstein senate, assault weapons like the AR-15-style rifle have become the weapons of choice for mass shooters, including in most school shootings. School threats and shootings are a massive issue throughout the country and Antioch Community High School experienced a school threat on Oct. 25. When asking Officer Kourtney Nemec how this ban could possibly affect school shootings in the future, she responded with no comment.

 Assault weapons fire multiple bullets at a time while pistols fire one bullet at a time along with having to reload after every bullet. Criminals have easy access to assault weapons and it may be difficult to defend oneself with a pistol in certain situations. In an interview, senior Josh Vales stated that criminals have multiple back doors to acquire weapons, such as the dark web.

According to abc7Chicago, A number of county sheriffs around the state have publicly vowed not to enforce the new law, prompting an open letter signed by 16 state legislators. They believe that this ban is stepping on the 2nd and 4th amendments of the constitution.