Williamson County in Southern Illinois will let voters decided on ‘gun sanctuary’ status

MARION — County officials in Southern Illinois will be letting voters decide whether it’ll join a movement by several other counties in the state to become a gun sanctuary county. Jim Marlo, chairman for the Williamson County Board of Commissioners, told The Southern Illinoisan that the board has voted to let residents have input on the resolution to become a sanctuary county for gun owners, a reference to so-called sanctuary cities that don’t cooperate with aspects of federal immigration enforcement. Commissioner Brent Gentry said people’s voices need to be heard and letting 60,000 residents vote sends a better message than just board members making the decision. More than a dozen others in Illinois have already passed such resolutions, which indicate they might not enforce gun control measures passed by state lawmakers that the county deems as interference with the Second Amendment. Effingham County was the first in Illinois to pursue such a measure, attracting national attention in April when it directed employees to stop enforcing state laws that "unconstitutionally restrict the Second Amendment."

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