According to local news outlet KSDK, Bullard told reporters, "I’ve deemed it from my understanding of case law as unlawful or valid on its face. My office will not be taking any action on this.” The outlet observed that he is joined in this by his colleague Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell who observed, "One of my main concerns is how exactly is this going to make this community safer."
Campbell added, "I believe this law violates our constitutional right to keep and bear arms more than any other law I’ve seen in 30 years in law enforcement."
The law, originally HB5471, now requires the 2.4 million FOID card holders in Illinois to register any banned weapons with the State Police. The agency reported to KSDK that less than 30,000 of them have done so as of this report. The owners of over 170 commonly used firearms and "high-capacity" magazines are targeted by the new law.
“We’re going to take law-abiding citizens and make them criminals because of a decision they have to make,” Campbell said. Failing to register such a banned weapon is a misdemeanor on the first offense and a felony on the second. In addition to refusing to enforce the measure, Campbell said he notified his city police chiefs that the county jail will not accept inmates arrested for a charge related to the new law alone.
Similarly, Bullard said, "The only time we will house someone that is charged with that is if they happened to be charged with a violent crime and it’s an add-on charge."
In this, the two Sheriffs join Greene County Sheriff Rob McMillen who issued a lengthy statement when the law was signed announcing his refusal to enforce it.
In the letter posted to Facebook, he says in part, “These types of laws put law enforcement officers and prosecutors in a very precarious box, with us having to decide to not enforce laws that were passed by government bodies. But, as your Greene County Sheriff, I cannot sit back and let laws that strip Greene County citizens of their constitutional rights, and not take a stance supporting the citizens against a government that wants to trample on their rights.”
As reported by The Daily Wire, “Clinton County Sheriff Dan Travous, Macoupin County Sheriff Shawn Kahl, and Monroe County Sheriff Neal Rohlfing made similar statements." Daily Wire noted then that Madison County Sheriff Jeff Connor and Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine shared a concurring statement emphasizing the legal challenges the officials expect the law to face under Supreme Court rulings such as 2022’s New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen.“As with any statute passed by the legislature and signed by the governor, it is presumed constitutional,” the sheriff and state attorney wrote. “But we are acutely aware that this statute touches on fundamental constitutional issues and is in obvious tension with recent and binding Supreme Court precedent on the Second Amendment.”
“Among other things, it bans many of the most popular firearms in America, firearms that are currently in common use for lawful purposes and which law-abiding citizens have legally owned for many years,” the statement continued. “Whatever the policy justification, such a ban is hard to square with the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Bruen, which states simply: 'the Second Amendment protects the possession and use of weapons that are ‘in common use at the time.'”
The statement explained, “Based on the analysis above, we expect a strong fourth challenge to HB 5471 in short order. We trust that this legislative overreach will not stand. In the meantime, we remain focused on reducing violent crime.”
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