OAN Roy Francis
UPDATED 12:18 PM PT – Saturday, January 21, 2023
Former Attorney General candidate Thomas DeVore filed a lawsuit against Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker over his recently signed assault weapons ban.
Governor J.B. Pritzker (D-Ill.) signed the Protect Illinois Communities Act, which “immediately bans the sale and distribution of assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and switches in IL.”
Many, including DeVore, saw this law as unconstitutional and a mere political act by the Illinois governor who is reportedly making a move towards a presidential run for 2024.
The former Attorney General candidate said that Pritzker’s “tyrannical” measures are what made him take action, and he proceeded to file his suit on behalf of 866 plaintiffs. The suit lists 862 gun owners, along with four gun shop owners, in the state of Illinois.
The lawsuit argues that the Protect Illinois Communities Act is in violation of the Illinois State Constitution, along with its Equal Protection clause.
“No longer can the citizens sit idly by while bureaucrats destroy the very foundation fabric of our great Republic,” DeVore said in a statement.
The law that the governor signed excuses certain groups of people from having to abide by it. An example given by the former Attorney General candidate of these exemptions was prison guards. These groups are able to purchase and maintain the items that were banned to the rest of the citizens under this law, without any legal repercussions.
An Effingham County judge heard the lawsuit and granted DeVore a temporary restraining order on behalf of his plaintiffs. The order prevents the governor, or anyone under the governor, from enforcing the law against any of the 866 plaintiffs in the suit until a final decision has been reached by the court, which could take up to three months.
After the Illinois governor signed the law, most of the sheriffs throughout the state stated they would refuse to enforce it. Attorneys throughout the state have also said that they will not prosecute citizens under any unconstitutional law, which they consider this to be.
In an exclusive interview with One America’s Addison Smith, Thomas DeVore and his campaign manager Ryan Cunningham explain the reasoning and their arguments for the suit and the steps that are being taken on behalf of the citizens of Illinois.