38 counties, Number of ‘gun sanctuary’ counties has increased though new gun laws haven’t advanced

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BY KELSEY LANDIS AND KAVAHN MANSOURI
NOVEMBER 16, 2018 12:37 PM

Amid a wave of proposed gun control legislation in the Illinois state capitol earlier this year, more than 25 counties passed resolutions opposing what some saw as an effort to curtail their Second Amendment rights.

Since the first wave of resolutions passed this summer, the total number of county boards that passed resolutions has reached at least 38 of Illinois’ 102 counties, with other counties taking similar measures.

A few of those counties, such as Effingham County and Monroe County, called themselves “gun sanctuaries,” saying their employees won’t enforce laws that “unconstitutionally restrict the Second Amendment.” In Effingham County, however, the state’s attorney told the Effingham Daily News the sheriff’s department won’t base enforcement on the resolution.

The Nov. 6 elections made a “gun sanctuary” out of Madison County, where voters cast ballots overwhelmingly in favor of the county becoming “a sanctuary county for law abiding gun owners to protect them from unconstitutional gun laws passed by the Illinois General Assembly.”

Other counties chose not to include the term “gun sanctuary,” opting instead for sending a symbolic message to Springfield.

Montgomery County voters expressed on election night their opposition to new gun restriction laws, with 79 percent voting “no” on the question, “Should the Illinois General Assembly pass any additional legislation that restricts a citizen’s ability to own and possess guns or firearms?”

But in Williamson County, an effort to get a Second Amendment question on the ballot failed after the state’s attorney and other board commissioners questioned the legality and necessity of the question, WSIU reported.

The 38 counties that have passed resolutions in one form or another are: Brown, Calhoun, Christian, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Effingham, Fayette, Ford, Greene, Hamilton, Hardin, Henderson, Henry, Iroquois, Jasper, Jefferson, Lawrence, Livingston, Madison, Marion, McDonough, Mercer, Monroe, Montgomery, Perry, Pope, Saline, Shelby, Stark, Tazewell, Washington, Wayne, White and Woodford.

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