Prairie State Wire

Lt. Col. Paul Schimpf, a Republican candidate for Illinois governor and former state senator, discussed his stands on abortion, education and gun regulation on 'Public Affairs,' a TV show focused on public figures.

When the show's host, Jeff Berkowitz, asked Schimpf his thoughts on abortion, the retired Marine Corps officer said he's an abortion opponent and he wants to steer the argument away from the legality of abortion, and focus it more on the ethical side.

Schimpf said that Americans should change the way they think about abortion.

“We don’t need to be talking about legal vs. illegal," Schimpf said, "we need to change our culture so that abortion becomes unthinkable.”

When asked about education, Schimpf said that there are some issues about what the state is requesting teachers to teach that concern him. He said that teachers are being told to teach their students about activism and progressive values, which does not sit well with him.

Schimpf criticized the state’s Board of Education for adopting progressive or left-leaning political standpoints when that should never be the practice.

Berkowitz asked Schimpf if he became governor would he be able to change this, and Schimpf   said “absolutely.”

On gun regulation, Schimpf said that he is a supporter of the Second Amendment and doesn’t support “sanctuary counties” that do not abide by national gun laws just because they don’t want to agree with them.

Schimpf also criticized how FOID card processing is being handled under Gov. Pritzker’s administration and he says that the delays in processing them are unforgiveable.