When guns are used to threaten or shoot at people, they paint a target on the backs of free expression and democracy as well spreading death and injuries.
On Monday, Solomon Peña, a failed Republican political candidate in New Mexico, was charged with organizing and participating in a scheme with four other men to fire bullets into the homes of four Democratic lawmakers. It was just another example of firearms being used in a way that could quell free and open debate.
One of the guns the assailants reportedly carried was an automatic rifle that could have, by firing many more bullets over a wider target area, injured or killed the occupants of those homes, had it not jammed. Fortunately, the occupants of the homes were not hit.
It is that exponential lethality of powerful firearms that led lawmakers in Illinois to ban assault-style rifles and high-capacity magazines with a bill Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed on Jan. 10. The law also banned rapid-fire devices known as switches because they turn firearms into fully automatic weapons. Even if the Illinois law is upheld in court, it won’t stop all shootings, but it could save many lives and prevent many injuries. It also will reduce the fear of those in a public space they will encounter someone with a weapon that can spread instant carnage.
Unfortunately, sheriffs from about 80 Illinois counties have said they won’t enforce the assault weapons ban. That invites unnecessary tragedy. If sheriffs don’t think they must uphold the law, even though they have sworn to do so upon taking office, is there a risk that ordinary people will think they don’t have to abide by laws they don’t like? Could sheriffs decide on their own, for example, that they can search people’s homes without a warrant?
By taking sides with firearms over public safety, the sheriffs also exhibit a lack of interest in promoting safety, reducing gun violence and preventing the threat of powerful weapons from discouraging citizens from fully participating in public life.
As a practical matter, the sheriffs don’t have a major role in enforcing the ban on gun dealers selling assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines. People who owned such guns before the ban went into effect must register them with the Illinois State Police by Jan. 1, 2024.
But nothing in the new law says any sheriff or any law enforcement official is required to knock on peoples’ doors to ask if their firearms have been registered and confiscate them if they are not. Moreover, the law is generally enforced by the state police and the Illinois attorney general, not sheriffs.
Still, it is the sheriff’s job to enforce all laws, not to decide what the law should be or whether it is constitutional. It’s up to the Legislature and governor to enact laws, and up to the courts to rule on constitutionality.
Sheriff’s deputies will, of course, have opportunities to enforce the law if they, in the course of encountering an individual for another reason, see an assault weapon or high-capacity magazine.
But supposing law officers ignore illegal weapons that then are used in a case similar to the New Mexico shootings? Allowing such weapons to circulate in society continues to pose a chilling effect on democracy. To coin a phrase, political intimidation grows out of the barrel of a gun.
In the end, the courts will rule on the constitutionality of the new Illinois law. The Illinois State Rifle Association has filed a federal lawsuit and other lawsuits have been filed in state courts, though the federal courts are the place where the important decisions will be made.
In the political vernacular of our times, issues from vaccines to climate change have been “weaponized,” as some people just won’t listen to the other side.
To make our state and nation safer, people must stop “weaponizing” guns and work together for solutions.
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