Gracious.
Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain makes no bones about his disdain for the controversial “assault rifle” ban recently enacted by the Democratic-dominated state legislature and enthusiastically signed into law by Democratic Governor JB Pritzker. In a recent meeting with the Kane County Board’s legislative committee, Hain, himself a Democrat, held forth publicly about his frustration at the lack of law enforcement involvement in the crafting of the legislation, as well as his belief that the ban is “unconstitutional.”
“Please remember, I’m an elected Democrat,” Hain said, as quoted in the Daily Herald. “I’m pro-no cash bail. If they want to ban any sort of weapon, whatever, we’ll enforce it. But our legislators here in Kane County, especially with the (Democratic) Party next to their names, do not listen to law enforcement. They refuse to communicate with us. They create legislation based on what they read on social media and knee-jerk reactions in the news. I’m tired of having to clean up the pieces and try to figure this out afterward. I’m embarrassed to have a ‘D’ next to my name.”
“Mental health is the core issue of mass shootings. Every single one,” Hain continued. “You can ban every single piece of equipment out there with a trigger on it. Mental health is going to be the issue that creates mass killings. Let’s start doing the right thing, because it’s not being done right now.”
Hain’s pronouncement didn’t sit well with local legislators Sen. Cristina Castro (22nd), Sen. Karina Villa (25th), Rep. Barbara Hernandez (50th), Rep. Maura Hirschauer (49th) and Rep. Anna Moeller, (all D’s), who responded with an open letter to “The People Of Kane County.” (The letter, somewhat amusingly, was proudly posted by Sheriff Hain on the Kane County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page.)
In the letter, the legislators mince no words and do not shy away from a school-yard taunt. In the very first paragraph they chide Sheriff Hain by writing “on one point we agree with what the Sheriff said: we are also embarrassed that Sheriff Hain has a ‘D’ by his name.”
The letter continues by accusing Sheriff Hain of ignoring facts, saying “much to the detriment of the people of Kane County, Sheriff Hain doesn’t care about facts, he prefers to spread misinformation and stoke the flames of controversy.”
The letter ends with an admonition for Sheriff Hain to “step back from public disputes,” suggesting that his role as Sheriff is an inappropriate platform from which to criticize legislation. Interestingly, DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick was met with similar demands from legislators when he publicly criticized the legislation in his own “letter to the people” just after it was signed into law.
Will there be a third round in this internecine brawl? Stay tuned.
