DUPAGE COUNTY, Ill. — Several elected officials representing parts of DuPage County plan to gather Monday morning to publicly rebuke the county’s sheriff for stating he will not enforce the state’s new ban on assault weapons.
U.S. Representatives Sean Casten (IL-06), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), and Bill Foster (IL-11), and other Members of the Illinois congressional delegation, county board members, and state legislators will host a press conference regarding DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick’s January 13th.
On Jan. 10 Governor Pritzker signed H. B. 5471, the Protect Illinois Communities Act, into law. The legislation bans the sale and distribution of assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and switches in Illinois. On Jan. 13, DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick announced that, due to his personal beliefs about H. B. 5471, he would not enforce the law in DuPage County. He is one of many county sheriffs across Illinois to voice such a statement.
Enforcement of the law is currently suspended due to a judge’s ruling on Friday in Effingham after multiple lawsuits were filed to overturn the ban.
WGN plans to livestream the press conference in its entirety within this story beginning at approximately 10 a.m.