Sheila Simon (Southern Illinois University School of Law) has posted On Target? Assessing Gun Sanctuary Ordinances That Conflict with State Law (West Virginia Law Review, Vol. 122, No. 3, 2020) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Effingham County, Illinois is at crossroads, with interstate highways that go in every direction. And Effingham County is at an ideological crossroads as well, a mostly rural and Republican county in a state with a large urban and Democratic population. As a state, Illinois has long had restrictions on owning firearms, and tougher restrictions have often been proposed. In 2018, Effingham County went its own way, declaring itself to be a 'gun sanctuary.' In the months after Effingham County’s actions, many Illinois counties enacted similar sanctuary ordinances, and now the majority of the state’s 102 counties have some form of this law. Counties across the country have continued the trend. These local ordinances have no legal impact where they conflict with state law. Even so, these ordinances have an impact in giving voice to areas that feel underrepresented, allowing the democratic process a better chance to function well.
