03/06/2023
Newly-elected McLean County Sheriff Matt Lane says he will not enforce the Protect Illinois Communities Act, HB 5471, which bans the purchase of so-called “assault” weapons, among other things. He joins more than 75 Illinois County Sheriffs who have made similar statements.
In a public statement, Sheriff Lane said the following:
Illinoisans that currently own a weapon banned under this legislation are still allowed to possess these weapons, but are required to register them via a sworn affidavit with the Illinois State Police. Failure to register a legally-purchased weapon banned under the Act is a petty offense punishable by a citation of up to $1,000. Gun-owners must register banned weapons no later than October 1st, 2023.
In an interview with WGLT, Lane said, “The U.S. Constitution is trumping this law. That’s the way I see it. I don’t see sending deputies door to door to check and make sure people have registered their weapons. That is not something I will have my people doing.”
Agitation Rising asked Sheriff Lane about the legislation at a recent meeting of the McLean County Libertarians. Lane said it will never be the only reason a Sheriff’s deputy would be at someone’s house. However, Lane did say that if they were arresting a “bad person” for other offenses, they could potentially enforce this legislation. Already there’s a change from “this law is unconstitutional and therefore, unenforceable” to “I don’t like this law, but I might enforce it if it is convenient.”
In a follow-up question, Lane was asked if he might use a violation of the law as a pre-text to further an investigation on an individual who is believed to have committed another crime, but there is insufficient evidence for an arrest. For example, a person is being investigated for a murder, but the police do not have enough evidence to arrest that individual. But, they find out this person legally purchased a banned weapon but had failed to register. This violation could be used to obtain a search warrant for a person’s property. In an e-mailed response, Lane said, “I do not see a scenario where we would charge a lack of registration on it’s own. I have learned not to say ‘never’ when I don’t know what the future holds.”
Lane further criticized the legislation, stating that many weapons banned in the law were already illegal like bump-stocks. “Anything that made a gun automatic was already illegal.”
Lane said most of the opposition to the law came from legal law-abiding gun owners who don’t want to be considered a criminal because they own a gun.
Governor J.B. Pritzker said in response to the protesting Sheriffs, “They took an oath of office to uphold the law as law enforcement, that’s their job and I expect them to do that job.”
Sheriff Lane’s decision only applies to Sheriff’s deputies and does not include Normal Police Department, Bloomington Police Department, or other independent law enforcement agencies within McLean County.
