The Problem With New Disarmament Law in Illinois

Illinois doesn’t make headlines here at Bearing Arms because they’ve supported the right to keep and bear arms. The state’s long history on guns has solidified its place as an anti-gun state and the number of lawsuits the state is facing right now because of that is rather staggering.

But if you thought that mattered to lawmakers, you’d be wrong.

In fact, the state just passed another measure where they’ll take guns from people who are subject to restraining orders. On the surface, this isn’t the worst thing ever. Rahimi found that people who are dangerous and subject to protective orders can be prohibited from owning guns, after all, right?

Well, yeah, but let’s understand, this law is still a big problem.

On January 6, gun control advocates from Illinois used a reprehensibly corrupt legislative procedure to pass Karina’s Bill, requiring authorities to seize firearms and ammunition without due process from individuals who are subject to an order of protection. Although the state is embroiled in a litany of Second Amendment lawsuits following its nonadherence to the 2022 United States Supreme Court ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, its lust for tyranny is unphased, as both the substance and the manner of passing this bill should offend even the most novice Constitutionalist.

To truly understand the depths of Democrat legislative depravity, let’s first look at the method by which the bill was passed. House Bill 4144 amends the Environmental Protection Act to address water supply disruptions, requiring public water distribution entities to notify affected fire departments and dispatch centers at least 14 days before a disruption event. The Illinois House passed the bill, which then moved to the state Senate. So, what does this have to do with due process or the Second Amendment? Not a damn thing, until…

Just six minutes before the scheduled commencement of the Illinois Executive Committee, the bill was posted, having been stripped completely of its language after the enacting title and replaced with what is called “Karina’s Bill.” The move, executed before the sitting “Lame Duck” session, is called a striking amendment, which differs from a floor amendment proposed in a legislative chamber in that it removes everything after the title and inserts a whole new bill. This was obviously a plan from the beginning, begging Americans to ask why their money is being spent on deceptive games meant to strip them of their own rights.

Moving to the substance of this unconstitutional dumpster fire, Karina’s Bill advocates for the use of ex parte hearings to obtain orders of protection, immediately triggering a warrant to confiscate the subject’s firearms and ammunition. Ex parte, a Latin phrase meaning “on one side only” or “by or for one party,” refers to a legal proceeding by which one party communicates directly with a judge without notice to or knowledge of the other party, removing the respondent’s ability to be represented or present their side of a case prior to being stripped of their rights and property.

Regardless of what Rahimi found on this, the truth is that this is not due process. There’s no ability to face your accuser or to even offer your side of things. I’ve known of too many cases of abusive relationships, for example, where the person hit with the restraining order was, in fact, the victim. The abuser just got to a lawyer first.

Further, we also know that protective orders happen in a lot of divorces where there hasn’t been any history of violence. Judges grant them simply because they figure it’s safer to grant and be wrong than to not grant it and then find out they were wrong.

That’s not enough to warrant taking someone’s guns from them, much less to strip them of their right to keep and bear arms.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what’s happening in Illinois.

Illinois doesn’t give a damn about people’s rights. They don’t care one iota if people’s rights are respected. In fact, I’m starting to think they’ve got some kind of kink relating to stripping people of their rights, particularly the right to keep and bear arms.