Prairie State Wire

During the first Temporary Restraining Order hearings against the Illinois Governor’s alleged “assault weapons” ban, the attorneys representing the Governor and Attorney General made a statement that jumped out at me, as did a portion of their filed response on the matter.

“So the people in the professions that are exempted from these provisions of the legislation, they are in professions that anything else entails substantial firearm training. How to safely handle and store what the Legislature has defined as assault weapons.”  (Transcript of Effingham Hearing – see pages 44-45 )

In the response filed for that same hearing, the Governor’s position is most interesting.

“the professions identified in the Act are professions that necessarily entail substantial firearms training, including on how to safely handle and store assault weapons.” (Response to Emergency TRO – see page 16)

The alleged “assault weapons” ban exempts the following.

• Peace Officers
• Qualified law enforcement officers and qualified retired law enforcement officers.
• Federal, State, or local law enforcement agencies to equip their peace officers.
• Wardens, superintendents, and keepers of prisons.

For those not familiar with Prison Wardens, Illinois refers to them as Chief Administration Officers and Superintendents as found in the law. Those people are designated by the Director of the Department of Corrections.  The Director is appointed by the Governor.  There are 46 prison facilities in Illinois according to the DOC website however the Directors profile points to only 27 facilities.

I submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of Corrections for a “Copy of all firearms training certifications held by Wardens, superintendents, and keepers of prisons In Illinois.”  

I asked for this because the claim by the Governor is these people are exempt because of their “substantial” training on firearms, including handling assault weapons.

The DOC had ZERO records pointing to any training certificates of any kind as it relates to firearms.

They did produce range score sheets where their shooting was recorded.  The total number of those records reflected only 13 individuals.

We note those shooting records were for 9 mm pistols.  There was nothing indicating any training or qualifications with alleged “assault weapons” in the records produced, labeled as “Active Wardens – Redacted)

Even more disturbing, the DOC released the FOID card numbers in their production for 12 wardens. Such a release violates the Freedom of Information Act.  If any of those Wardens would like to take action against their employer for releasing such information, please contacts us to obtain the unredacted copy provided to us. We note one Warden’s records did not indicate any FOID card number so we do not know if they are even legally able to possess a gun.  A copy of the properly redacted records produced can be viewed below or downloaded at this link.

As it stands, DOC has no records indicating any substantial training regarding alleged “assault weapons”.

This story was originally published by Edgar County Watchdogs. Read the original HERE.