Bureau County sheriff says deputies won’t enforce non-compliance aspect of new Illinois gun law

Around 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Bureau County Sheriff Jim Reed said in a release that his deputies won’t “harass our citizens” to ensure “lawful gun owners” register their weapons with the state of Illinois, nor will the sheriff’s offices arrest or house “law-abiding citizens” arrested solely with non-compliance of the ban on high-powered semiautomatic weapons.

The ban is effective immediately after Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker signed House Bill 5471 into effect around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The law bans several dozen styles of rapid-fire rifles and pistols, .50-caliber guns and weapon attachments that enhance a gun’s firepower. Current owners of such weapons won’t be required to surrender them. However, gun owners will have to register them with the Illinois State Police – including serial numbers, a provision initially removed by the Senate but restored after House proponents’ objections.

“It is my personal and professional belief that this is another attempt to disarm lawful firearm owners and force a number of businesses out of Bureau County and Illinois as a whole,” Reed stated. “Our legislators could make better use of our tax dollars and resources by providing law enforcement with legislation that focuses on the real sources of the problem in Illinois, and hot harassing law abiding citizens.”

Reed said he believes his duty as Sheriff is to protect the rights provided in the Constitution including “the right to keep and bear arms for defense of life, liberty and property.”

Reed wasn’t the only sheriff in Northern Illinois to renounce the ban on high-powered semiautomatic weapons.

Sheriffs in Whiteside, Lee, Grundy, DeKalb, Grundy, McHenry, Ogle, Putnam and La Salle counties also have issued similar statements Wednesday.