Press Releases
COALITION SOLIDIFIES IN OPPOSITION TO NEW ILLINOIS GUN BAN
January 17, 2023
CONTACT: Mandi Sano (630) 464-1300
Web Site: ilgra.org
YORKVILLE, IL - - The following was released today by Illinois Gun Rights Alliance.
A coalition representing sporting and self-defense interests from across the state is coming together in an effort to put the brakes on Illinois’ recently enacted gun ban. The new law bans the manufacture, sale, and possession of a wide variety of popular firearms and accessories. Coalition members feel that the new law unduly burdens lawful firearm owners and levies a restraint of trade on Illinois’ thriving small arms industry.
“All people of good will certainly want to see an end to criminal violence,” said coalition spokesman Mandi Sano. “But expecting lawful citizens to pay penance for the misdeeds of others is not the solution. This new law is divisive, unenforceable, and offers dubious efficacy as a crime-fighting tool. The coalition plans a vigorous legal challenge to this dangerous infringement on the rights of the lawful citizen. When all is said and done, we hope to steer the legislature’s focus back to the true cause of violent crime – the unbridled thug.”
“Illinois has become the latest state where a simple legislative majority has jammed outright tyranny down the throats of their citizens,” said Erich Pratt Senior Vice President, Gun Owners of America. “This unconstitutional ban has drawn the ire of sheriffs and states attorneys across the state, with many pledging to simply not even enforce the law. GOA and GOF are excited to get involved in this case, and we look forward to forcing the anti-gunners, many of whom are from Chicago, to bend the knee to the Bruen decision.”
About the coalition.
Interest in the coalition is growing by the day as the impact of the new law becomes more widely understood. The core of the coalition currently consists of:
Federal Firearms Licensees of Illinois (FFL-IL)
Aurora Sportsmen's Club (ASC), POC - Eric Callis
Guns Save Life (GSL)
Gun Owners of America (GOA)
State Line Rifle Association (SLRA)
The coalition’s legal team is currently being assembled and consists of:
Chuck Michel, Michel & Associates. Chuck has over 25 years of successful litigation experience related to Second Amendment issues – most notably in California.
Mark Shaw and Mike Danforth. Messrs. Shaw and Danforth are local counsel possessing a combined half-century’s worth of experience in litigating firearms law.
“Nobody should doubt the resolve of the coalition and its supporters,” commented spokesman Mandi Sano. Our intention is to right this wrong in favor of the good people of Illinois.”
COALITION FILES COMPLAINT VS ILLINOIS GUN BAN
CONTACT: Mandi Sano 630-635-6097
Website: ILGRA.org
Yorkville, IL January 24, 2023 – Members of the Illinois Gun Rights Alliance (ILGRA) today filed a federal lawsuit challenging the recently adopted Protect Illinois Communities Act, alleging it to be an infringement on the constitutionally protected activity of Illinois sportsmen, firearms retailers, distributors, and manufacturers, and lawful users of firearms. Defendants are Governor Pritzker, Attorney General of Illinois Kwame Rauol, and Brendan F. Kelly, Director of the Illinois State Police.
Named plaintiffs in this action are:
• Federal Firearms Licensees of Illinois, Inc – the FFL Dealers’ Association
• Guns Save Life – an Illinois-based, grass-roots gun rights organization
• Gun Owners of America - a national grass-roots gun rights organization
• Three private citizens
• One local dealer
“We are, or represent, members and supporters who are law-abiding Illinois residents who seek to purchase, sell, and protect themselves, and/or their homes and families with firearms owned and in common use by millions of Americans for self-defense,” the complaint begins.
“We began with the so-called 'Assault Weapon’ ban,” said Mandi Sano, FFL-IL Spokesman. “As the Governor and General Assembly gleefully strip law-abiding Illinois retailers and gun-owners of their gun rights, property rights, and privacy, we will not stand by. We will act.”
“Our group has said all along that we will not help the State craft a 'better bill,’ we will not provide subject matter expertise, and that if the State wishes to read our opinions, it may do so in the complaint,” added FFL-IL President Dan Eldridge.
John Boch, Executive Director of Guns Save Life, Inc. holds that, “the so-called Protect Illinois Communities Act does nothing to actually protect Illinois communities. Its only effect is to criminalize law-abiding gun owners. The General Assembly should instead be holding criminals accountable for violent crimes.”
The measure remains broadly unpopular, sparking a surge in purchases before the Act’s effective date and drawing the opposition of more than 80 of the State’s 102 Sheriffs.
“The Supreme Court has reset the table by striking down New York’s concealed carry 'may-issue’ law and along with it magazine limits in California and New Jersey, and Maryland’s ’assault weapon’ ban. We seek immediate state-wide relief from enforcement of this unconstitutional law and look forward to prevailing in the Federal Court.” concluded Ms. Sano.