State Rep. Adam Niemerg and area Sheriffs vow continued opposition to unconstitutional weapons ban law

State Representative Adam Niemerg. Photo submitted by State Rep Niemerg.

For Immediate Release – January 26, 2023

Dieterich, IL – State Representative Adam Niemerg (R-Dietrich) along with Crawford County Sheriff William Rutan, Jasper County Sheriff Brandon Francis, and Lawrence County Sheriff Trenton Masterson held a press conference in Robinson today to discuss how the state’s new weapons ban law violates the Constitutional Rights of honest citizens.

Rep. Niemerg is among several lead plaintiffs who have filed a new lawsuit challenging Governor JB Pritzker, Senate President Harmon, House Speaker Welch, and Attorney General Kwame Raoul regarding the weapons ban and gun registry legislation recently signed into law.

The new law restricts the purchase and manufacturing of many different types of federally legal firearms, limits magazine capacity to 10 rounds for long guns and 15 for handguns, and requires signed affidavits for grandfathered in firearms. The latest lawsuit has been filed in White County.

“Make no mistake about it, this new law infringes on the rights of honest citizens,” Niemerg said. “It infringes on their rights by preventing them from buying firearms that are legal in nearly every other state. It selectively applies our Constitutional rights to certain citizens but denies those rights to others. It is a big-time government overreach and something we will continue to fight.”

Niemerg said the new law essentially treats the 2^nd Amendment like a privilege rather than a right.

“In our society we don’t provide the government a list of people who attend church or who are members of the local Rotary Club because our Constitution gives us the right to freely assemble,” Niemerg said. “We must register with the state to legally drive a car because driving is privilege not a right. We don’t have to get permission from the government to exercise our rights because to do so would contradict the very nature of what a right is. Honest citizens are not the ones causing the violence.”

Niemerg said it sometimes seems as if there is more anger in Springfield from the far left toward honest citizens who own firearms than there is for the people actually committing the crimes.

“Stripping honest citizens of their rights won’t solve the problem,” Niemerg said. “More laws are not the solution. We must address the problem at its root cause. We must help troubled youth get the mental healthcare they need, and we must as a society elevate and promote the family as the bedrock of our society. Let’s focus on real solutions and let’s stop infringing on the rights of honest citizens.”