I love the smell of noncompliance in the morning – or at any other time of day, for that matter. The topic might get more prevalent as federal, state, and local governments become even more tyrannical.
We have already seen how these levels of governance have no problem instituting unconstitutional laws and rules during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Illinois, the state government thought it wise to pass laws intended to infringe on the right to keep and bear arms.
Fortunately, it appears residents are not having any of it.
RedState’s Ward Clark wrote a piece detailing how the state’s “assault weapon” and magazine ban took effect. The law requires people to register their grandfathered firearms and magazines. The registry was opened, and – drum roll please – nobody registered their firearms.
With Illinois’ gun and magazine ban still facing legal hurdles in federal court, a registry created in relation to the ban has been open for a week. A fraction of a percent of gun owners have complied so far.
As part of the Protect Illinois Communities Act that was enacted earlier this year, the registration portal for firearms owners in Illinois that own certain semi-automatic firearms, accessories and ammunition opened Oct. 1. While the law bans more than 170 semi-automatic rifles, shotguns and handguns, it also bans handgun magazines over 15 rounds and rifle magazines over 10 rounds. Magazines do not have to be registered.
Illinois State Police published the first round of statistics Tuesday, and of more than 2.4 million Firearm Owner ID card holders, 1,050 individuals have registered a total of 3,202 firearms, .50 caliber ammunition and accessories.
“You’re at 0.0004%. That’s a rounding error,” gun rights advocate Todd Vandermyde told The Center Square.
Clark acknowledges that “while a fair number of gun owners may well be waiting for the legal challenges to the law,” it is probable that “many, if not most, gun owners have no intention of complying with a law that is clearly unconstitutional.”
The rate of people complying with the new law is so negligible that it makes local school board elections look like a U2 concert, and my heart couldn’t be happier. It’s a refreshing sign that the public is finally saying, “You can make your laws, but good luck enforcing them.”
Speaking of enforcement, when Illinois first passed the laws, it received tremendous pushback from local sheriffs, about half of which said they would refuse to enforce them.
This story begs an important question, one that might determine the future of the nation when it comes to protecting liberty: Is noncompliance the answer when the government institutes laws and restrictions that violate people’s natural rights? As Henry David Thoreau once said, “If a law is unjust, one not only has the right to disobey it, they have an obligation to do so.”
When laws are met with widespread noncompliance, it indicates one of two things: Either the law is so convoluted that people couldn’t follow it even if they wanted to, or it’s a law nobody is willing to follow for a litany of reasons.
By not complying with the new law, Illinois gun owners have essentially nullified it and rendered it impotent – especially since the majority of sheriffs aren’t going to be running around throwing people in cages over it. After all, they can’t arrest everyone, even if they were so inclined, could they?
Remember Prohibition? It was an utter disaster because people simply flouted the law on a massive scale. When enough people are willing to disobey, it becomes impossible for the elites running the government to force their ideas on the rest of us.
Imagine what would have happened if more Americans were willing to take the same approach under COVID. How would things have turned out differently if enough people were willing to give the government the finger and refuse to comply with their onerous restrictions and mandates? Perhaps we would have had a dramatically different outcome. Nevertheless, when it comes to pushing back against government overreach, we should not ignore the role that noncompliance can play in protecting liberty.