By Mark Vargas, Editor-in-Chief
Originally Published in Newsmax
On Jan. 10, 2023, Gov. JB Pritzker, D-Ill., signed legislation banning assault weapons —making Illinois just the 9th state to enact one of the strongest assault weapons bans in the country.
During the signing ceremony, and surrounded by the state’s leading anti-gun advocates, Pritzker declared war on gun groups, saying, “we will keep fighting — bill by bill, vote by vote, and protest by protest — to ensure that future generations only hear about massacres like Highland Park, Sandy Hook, and Uvalde in their textbooks.”
Pritzker then sent a shot across the bow, warning the state’s gun owners that there would be consequences for anyone not wanting to follow the new law.
Just minutes after the ceremony concluded, one of the most respected gun organizations in the country – the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) had a simple message for the governor and his unconstitutional gun ban:
“Challenge accepted. The Illinois State Rifle Association will see the State of Illinois in court.”
And weeks later, the ISRA followed through on that promise – filing a federal lawsuit arguing that “the new law infringes on the rights of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear commonly possessed firearms and ammunition magazines for the defense of self and family and other lawful purposes.”
Pritzker, heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune, has a net worth of $3.6 billion – making him the wealthiest politician in the country.
And he’s using that wealth and power as the governor of the 6th largest state in America, to influence both President Biden and White House policy advisors — especially on issues like his assault weapons ban.
In April, Biden selected Chicago as the host of the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
Why? Pritzker called Biden and offered to cover the costs of the convention – estimated to be around $100 million — if he selected Chicago as the host city.
For a guy who spent $323 million of his own money on his two campaigns for governor, what’s another $100 million if it means he takes center stage during a national convention in a presidential election year where he can tout his gun ban in front of millions of people?
And the president couldn’t be happier with his favorite governor, who is more than happy to spend his money to garner more influence within Biden’s inner circle.
Over the July 4th holiday weekend, after a string of mass shootings, Biden once again promoted Pritzker’s assault weapons ban, issuing a statement from The White House urging other states to follow Pritzker’s lead and ban assault weapons once and for all.
And law-abiding gun owners in other states can expect Pritzker and Biden to wage a public relations campaign in their communities and apply pressure on their elected officials to pass similar anti-gun laws.
But the battle is far from over — in fact, it’s just getting started — and law-abiding citizens and gun owners are ready to take on Pritzker and Biden — in the courts, especially – and make their case that such bans are unconstitutional and are meant to do only one thing: to take away our 2nd Amendment right to bear arms.
And while Illinois remains ground zero in the battle to protect our 2nd Amendment rights, expect groups like the ISRA to continue to rally support from across the country as they take on the Pritzker and Biden administrations — standing up for not just law-abiding gun owners in Illinois — but for law-abiding gun owners across the country.
From 2007-2010, Mark Vargas served as a civilian in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense, traveling to Baghdad, Iraq 14 times. Follow Mark on Twitter: @markavargas. Read Mark Vargas’ Reports — Click Here Now.
