One Out of Four Illinois Counties Are ‘Gun Sanctuaries’

One out of four counties in Illinois is a gun sanctuary, which means they are refusing to enforce newly-passed gun controls.

On April 20, 2018, Breitbart News reported that Effingham County, Illinois, declared itself a “sanctuary county” for guns. Effingham County Board vice chairman David Campbell told Fox News, “It’s a buzzword, a word that really gets attention. With all these sanctuary cities, we just decided to turn it around to protect our Second Amendment rights.”

Effingham was quickly followed by four other counties, while another 20 counties considered adopting sanctuary status as well.

Hot Air now reports that 25 percent of Illinois counties are “gun sanctuaries.”

The Dispatch-Argus reported that Mercer County became the state’s 30th “sanctuary county.” They quoted  Mercer County Board member Brian Anseeuw  (R-New Windsor) saying, “We’re telling the state they cannot pass laws that impinge on our Second Amendment rights.”

These declarations of sanctuary status came as Illinois Democrats pushed to raise the legal age of long gun purchases to 21, sought new fees on federally licensed gun dealers, and pushed for bans on bump stocks and similar accessories.

On July 20, 2018, Breitbart News reported that Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) signed a gun confiscation legislation and another bill mandating a 72-hour waiting period on gun purchases. Such gun controls are pushing counties to take a stand.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.