It's sure as hell about time.

THIS AS NOT ENTIRE ARTICLE.

CHICAGO — It was no accident Effingham County’s resolution to protect the rights of gun owners stole an important word from the very people the resolution was intended to provoke, supporters of the country’s sanctuary cities movement.



Effingham County State’s Attorney Bryan Kibler last month told a raucous crowd the origin story behind the “Second Amendment sanctuary county” movement, which began in Effingham and now includes 64 of Illinois’ 102 counties, counties in three other states, and nine more states in which counties are eyeing similar nonbinding measures. And as state legislators, emboldened by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, look at more gun-control measures, counties are looking at more ways to resist them.

Effingham County Board member David Campbell came to Kibler with a resolution passed by Iroquois County regarding gun rights, saying he wanted to do something similar, but questioned if they could make the language “a little more provocative,” he said in remarks posted on YouTube. He hit on the idea of alluding to some cities’ policies on cooperating with federal authorities on immigration enforcement.

“I said, well, they’re creating sanctuary counties for illegals up in Chicago, why don’t we just steal their word and make Effingham County a sanctuary county for firearms?” Kibler relayed to the crowd at a conservative gathering, to massive applause.

Effingham’s 2018 resolution asserted that at least five pieces of proposed Illinois legislation dealing with gun ownership would be unconstitutional. The resolution targeted proposed laws including those that would raise the minimum age for gun ownership to 21, outlaw various types of weapons, and outlaw bump stocks or body armor. It also demanded “the Illinois General Assembly cease further actions restricting the right of the people to keep and bear arms” and demanded the governor veto any such bills.

When the measure passed in the county of about 35,000 last spring, it may have looked like a publicity stunt or a way to provoke Chicago officials who object to Trump administration immigration policies. But as the movement gained traction, it also has grown in substance. County sheriffs and state’s attorneys have publicly backed the cause, saying they will use their discretion to leave new gun laws unenforced.

Close to Chicago, Ogle, Boone and LaSalle counties have passed such resolutions and are among the more than 50 percent of Illinois counties to do so in the past year. Campbell keeps a map in which counties that have passed resolutions are colored green and those where no action has taken place are marked red. There also are yellow and orange counties, for those that are voting soon and those where a movement is underway to introduce the resolution to the county board.

Only 12 counties are red, including Cook County, meaning the other 90 are either on board or entertaining the idea.

In Cook County, officials have generally supported more restrictions on gun ownership and the types of guns available, in an attempt to reduce violence involving guns.