By Daniel Nardini

The Democrats in Illinois do not get to pick and choose what types of firearms they can ban. The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution makes it very clear that all U.S. citizens have the right to bear arms. It is as simple as that. The clear problem for Illinois lawmakers is that if you ban one classification of guns, then you can ban any and all guns. This is the legal Catch-22 that is inescapable. If assault weapons are banned, then rifles can be banned, and then handguns. If the state courts do not overturn Illinois’ assault gun ban, then it is pretty much assured that the federal courts all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court will.

Besides this gun ban affecting law abiding citizens and residents of Illinois, it puts in less than democratic measures that will have to be enforced. This new Illinois law means that there has to be a special registry for private owners who may still have assault weapons. Why should they be singled out? This law smacks of authoritarian rule, and will make Illinois a state where not all can enjoy freedom and liberty as will be true for neighboring states. This whole gun ban is a dangerous Trojan horse where soon all of our rights can be whittled away. If the state can ban certain types of firearms that can be owned, then why not ban all firearms? Why stop there; why not ban certain forms of speech the state feels offended by, and then do away with freedom of speech afterwards? If you can do one you can do the other.

And what about all of the problems this state, like so many states are facing, has to deal with? What about crime? That seems to be out of control especially in the cities of this state. What exactly is the state government doing about this issue? What about the issue of supply chain problems for people trying to get their medicines? I understand this is a nationwide problem, but Illinois could at least try to help those who are suffering from this dilemma. What about the egg shortage, one of the most basic foods in the American diet? Do the Illinois lawmakers care nothing about something Illinois residents need so badly that they should ignore what we can and cannot eat? I am sure the Illinois lawmakers are getting plenty of food for themselves that they are not concerned for us. And that reminds me, what about the many Illinois residents who are food insecure? Should they not be the priority instead of enforcing this unconstitutional gun ban?

There is everything wrong with the gun ban to begin with. More often than not, this hits the poor people. Families from the upper-middle and upper classes have far less to worry about from crime than the poor. These affluent classes can afford good home alarm systems, have better police forces paid for with their taxes, and can even hire security. Poor people, if they can afford a firearm at all, choose to buy a gun because they may live in places where they cannot count on their local police (because their police force may be poorly funded), and because they cannot afford anything else. How will they protect their families?

Gangs and criminal organizations, which work hand-in-hand, have no problem getting all of the guns they want because they obtain their guns illegally. They could care less about any gun ban, and they will be well armed while so many other Illinois residents will be on their own and at the mercy of the gangs. I am well aware that guns are not a good way for poor families to protect themselves, but against well organized gangs and criminal organizations what else can they do? On a personal note, I do not like guns of any kind. I never have and never will. But over-turning the U.S. Constitution and all of the precedents set over two centuries is not the way to go. Hurting law-abiding citizens could not be more counter-productive. This is why I believe this gun ban will fail, and I feel it should fail.