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2024 – March, ISA Files Amicus Brief Supporting Petitioner

On March 13, 2024, we, the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association filed an Amicus Brief in the matter of Barnett v. Raoul. We are in support of the petitioner, and the Brief asks the Supreme Court to accept review of this case, and to strike the Illinois assault weapon ban down. The ISA supports efforts to make Illinois and all of its citizens safe, but we also recognize that those efforts must be within the bounds set by the Constitution!

The Illinois legislature’s HB 5471 crosses those bounds, and in doing so, demands that sheriffs enforce a law that deprives the law-abiding citizens they serve of their constitutional right to keep and bear arms for lawful pruposes, including sport and self-defense. Because law enforcement should never be compelled to violate the constitutional rights of Illinois Citizens, and because the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals failed to recognize and follow the precedent set by the Supreme Court less than two years ago, the ISA believes that Petitioners have demonstrated that this case is an excellent vehicle for the Court to re-affirm that it meant what it said in its prior rulings recognizing the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment.

The sheriffs represented by the ISA unquestionably share a commitment to the rule of law in Illinois. But that rule of law starts first and foremost with the United States Constitution.

In fact, sheriffs are required to take an oath prescribed in the Illinois Constitution that begins with an affirmation that “I do solemnly swear (affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States.”

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