WHITE COUNTY, Ill. – A southern Illinois judge granted a temporary restraining order in a lawsuit filed over the state’s newly-enacted assault weapons ban.

Illinois’ new law bans the sale of all assault weapons and magazines in the state. It also requires owners to register existing guns.

State Reps. Adam Niemerg (R-Dietrich) and Blaine Wilhour (R-Beecher City) filed the lawsuit, challenging the constitutionality of the new law. The TRO means that White County does not have to follow the state law until further court action.

“This is another win for the Constitution and for honest firearm owners in the State of Illinois,” said Niemerg. “We are chipping away at this extreme law with each case working its way through our court system. It will take time, but this law will be overturned because it is a clear violation of our Constitutional rights.”

“The proponents of this new law have no regard whatsoever for our Second Amendment rights,” said Wilhour. “If the intent really was about crime prevention, we would be focused on stopping violence at its root cause rather than taking legal firearms away from honest citizens.  The proponents know this law is unconstitutional. They know it won’t work, but they don’t care because the real intent is to virtue signal to their radical political base.”

Niemerh and Wilhour contend that the law violates the Equal Protection clause by prohibiting some from purchasing certain types of firearms. The TRO only applies to plaintiffs of White County.

Dozens of county sheriff’s in Illinois, including some from the Metro East, previously noted they would not recognize the state’s newly-enacted weapons ban. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker says there will be no option for not complying, and he has preemptively threatened to fire county sheriffs who do not comply with the new law.