It’s June. It might not be a big deal for most, but for the law-abiding gun owners of Deerfield, Illinois—it’s the time when a new gun confiscation law goes into effect. The Chicago suburb recently passed a law, where AR-15s and other firearms that look scary, along with a host of handguns, have to be transferred out of the village limits, turned over to the police, or destroyed. Owning these firearms is not permitted within Deerfield and non-compliance could carry a $250-$1,000/ day fee. Yes, the National Rifle Association has joined a lawsuitagainst the provision. It’s absurd. Gun ownership has been banned in a slice of America. That’s grossly unconstitutional (via Chicago Tribune):
The ordinance enacted April 2 by the Deerfield Village Board gives residents until June 13 to turn in any guns that fit the village’s definition of assault weapons, remove them from the village or modify the guns so they’re no longer considered assault weapons. The ordinance empowers the town’s police chief to confiscate the assault weapons of anyone charged under the ordinance.
Owners found in violation can be fined up to $1,000 a day, according to the ordinance.
Two lawsuits were filed in April challenging the ordinance on various grounds, including a claim that the ordinance deprives gun owners of property they are legally entitled to possess. The plaintiffs in both lawsuits are asking for a temporary restraining order to block Deerfield from enforcing the ban until the court can hear their arguments for a permanent injunction.
A hearing to consider the restraining order motions is set for June 8, just days before the ban is set to take effect.
And it’s not just here. In Oregon, a ballot initiative seeks the same thing, though they would allow AR-15 owners to register their firearms. These people have done nothing wrong. Nothing illegal, but we’re going to treat them like criminals because…gun control. If this passes, Oregonian firearm owners also have the option to transfer them out of the state, destroy them, or turn them over to the authorities. In Boulder, the city council is looking to ban so-called assault weapons as well. This is what happens when you give the gun control crowd an inch, they take several thousand miles. That’s why the answer on any gun control proposal, with the exception for debates on how to improve treating and detecting mental health issues, should always be ‘No.’ this isn’t just a blue state activity anymore. Usually, new gun laws were drafted and passed by state legislatures in anti-gun, Democratic states. It’s now leached into Republican areas. We can thank Republican Govs. Phil Scott and Rick Scott of Vermont and Florida respectively and both were NRA-friendly. They passed anti-gun legislation in their states post-Parkland, betraying the Second Amendment movement. No doubt, the gun control crew nabbed a couple wins. The strategy seems to be shifting away from advocating universal background checks to increasing the sale of all firearms to 21; you can buy shotguns and rifles at 18. This is also a grossly unconstitutional law. Taxpaying and law-abiding adults deprived of their Second Amendment rights until 21? This isn’t alcohol, folks. There’s no right to drink, there is the right to own firearms. There can be no compromise on this front.