Effingham considers 'sanctuary county' for gun owners

There's been a lot of drama lately over sanctuary cities for immigrants.

Now, lawmakers in one Illinois county are pushing to create a sanctuary for gun owners to fight back against Springfield.

They may choose not to enforce a gun law they consider "unconstitutional." 

Even as the Chicago suburb of Deerfield warns everyone to get rid of all semi-automatic, assault weapon-style firearms by June 13th -- or face fines of up to a thousand bucks a day -- politicians in Effingham County way downstate are moving in the opposite direction. They're preparing to make themselves a "sanctuary county," not for immigrants in the U.S. Illegally, but for peaceful gun owners.

“I would just like to send a statement to Springfield that I don't want them to be infringing on our Second Amendment rights as legal gun owners,” said Joe Thoele, Effingham County board member.

Effingham state's attorney Bryan Kibler asked, "If you can be a sanctuary county for undocumented immigrants, why can't you be one for firearms?"

Politicians in Effingham say they were partly inspired by the Iroquois County board, which passed a pro-gun rights resolution last month, albeit one that stopped short of declaring Iroquois a "sanctuary county."

“You have to question whether or not banning any type of firearm is going to solve the problem socially with the violence. Violence is something I think we need to target the individual, rather than the guns,” said John Shure, chairman of the Iroquois County board.

Officials say the Effingham County board will debate and vote on their "sanctuary" for gun-owners proposal next Monday. It's expected to pass overwhelmingly.