Illinois state Rep. Martin McLaughlin (R-Barrington Hills) | repmclaughlin.com
Illinois state Rep. Martin McLaughlin (R-Barrington Hills) | repmclaughlin.com
State Rep. Martin McLaughlin (R-Barrington Hills) is blasting Attorney General Kwame Raoul over his handling of the state's ongoing legal gun debate.
"I think as part of executive branch he’s supposed to call balls and strikes and he’s not doing that and it’s leaving the public in the lurch," McLaughlin told Lake County Gazette. "He has to remember he is to be the lawyer of everyone in the state and not just a select few. "
GOP state lawmakers are blasting Raoul over what they argue is his lack of guidance after a federal judge temporarily put the state’s sweeping gun ban on hold late last month, which now has left a growing number of residents who bought high-powered firearms prohibited under the law in legal jeopardy. McLaughlin advised that Raoul "should let the public know what the interpretation is and not just leave them in the dark."
"I think it’s very much unconstitutional what’s happening and as such I think people have to do whatever they need to protect their rights," McLaughlin said.
Gun shop owners across the state have resumed stocking high-powered and semi-automatic weapons along with high-capacity ammunition magazines in the wake of a U.S. Circuit Judge reversing a lower court’s ban on the weapons.
"Legal gun owners and all citizens' fundamental constitutional rights are being ignored by Governor, Raoul, and Dems in this poorly constructed policy they’re pushing and won't stop with," McLaughlin said of how legal gun owners are being treated in the state of Illinois.
According to Chicago Tribune, a spokesperson for Raoul’s office defended the attorney general, saying “Any insinuation that the attorney general’s office would intentionally mislead or ‘entrap’ law-abiding Illinois residents is, at best, laughable. At worst, it is dangerous.”
Under the law passed by the Democratic-controlled legislature and signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker earlier this year, gun owners who possessed the now-prohibited firearms when the law took effect Jan. 10 will be able to keep them if they register them with the state by the start of 2024.
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