McHenry Times

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is throwing his support behind a push for a federal gun ban, despite the gun and magazine ban he seeks to impose in Illinois remaining mired in legal debate.

“We’ve banned assault weapons. We’ve banned high capacity magazines. We’ve banned switches that turn regular guns into automatic weapons and here in Illinois those are things that will keep people safe and alive, but we need a national ban,” Pritzker said July 5 in a story by the Center Square.

During a July 5 White House event, administration officials pointed to the Illinois law as something President Joe Biden would like to see enacted nationwide, the story stated. However, opponents of Pritzker's plans point to the fact that despite the control measures in Chicago, violent crime has risen 86 percent over the past 24 months, and 56 percent over four years.

If Pritzker's gun and magazine bans are upheld, gun owners who bought certain semi-automatic weapons before the ban will have to register them with Illinois State Police by Jan. 1 or face criminal penalties, the story stated.

Todd Vandermyde, a consultant of plaintiffs in the challenge to the Illinois’ ban, told the Center Square that extra gun control measures won’t make the streets safer, especially in light of more lenient policies against those already in custody.

“They don’t go after the criminals," he said, making light of relaxed policies against inmates. "'Oh no, we’re going to give them electric home monitoring. Oh no, we’re going to let them go out for 48 hours. Oh no, we’re not going to require cash bail.'"

Pritzker said he was at least partly pleased with how the issue is playing out in the courtroom, saying some of the judges’ questions focused on whether the issue is a “popularity contest which guns we’re going to allow," the Center Square reported.

“Because the people who were advocating for semi-automatic weapons were saying ‘well gee, everybody's got one now, so you can’t ban them.’" he said, "Well, that’s ridiculous. If everyone had a missile launcher, we shouldn’t ban missile launchers?”