From Grafton Township Republican Party Chairman Orville Brettman to the Republican members of the McHenry County Board:

My fellow Republicans: 

In times of stress and duress when dealing with issues that raise public debate to levels rarely seen, we are well to remember that we have our principles enshrined in our Party’s platforms at both the State and national levels. 

Please take moment and read what our State and National Republican Platforms have to say about our 2nd Amendment right. The emphasis which is added is mine. 

Our State Platform: 

We believe that day-to-day safety and security in our local communities is critical. Therefore, we strongly endorse and support the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which states, in part, “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” As a result, we oppose any efforts by the state or municipalities to impede the right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms. 

Our national Platform: 

The Second Amendment:  Our Right to Keep and Bear Arms 

We uphold the right of individuals to keep and bear arms, a natural inalienable right that predates the Constitution and is secured by the Second Amendment. Lawful gun ownership enables Americans to exercise their God-given right of self-defense for the safety of their homes, their loved ones, and their communities. We salute the Republican Congress for defending the right to keep and bear arms by preventing the President from installing a new liberal majority on the Supreme Court. The confirmation to the Court of additional anti-gun justices would eviscerate the Second Amendment’s fundamental protections. Already, local officials in the nation’s capital and elsewhere are defying the Court’s decisions upholding an individual right to bear arms as affirmed by the Supreme Court in Heller and McDonald. We support firearm reciprocity legislation to recognize the right of law-abiding Americans to carry firearms to protect themselves and their families in all 50 states. We support constitutional carry statutes and salute the states that have passed them. We oppose ill-conceived laws that would restrict magazine capacity or ban the sale of the most popular and common modern rifle. We also oppose any effort to deprive individuals of their right to keep and bear arms without due process of law. 

We condemn frivolous lawsuits against gun manufacturers and the current Administration’s illegal harassment of firearm dealers. We oppose federal licensing or registration of law-abiding 

gun owners, registration of ammunition, and restoration of the ill-fated Clinton gun ban. We call for a thorough investigation — by a new Republican administration — of the deadly “Fast and Furious” operation perpetrated by Department of Justice officials who approved and allowed illegal sales of guns to known violent criminals. 

It is clear as crystal that our Party’s principles call out to all of us to oppose by any and all means that onerous State law just enacted known as HB 5471. 

Locally our McHenry County Republican Party has passed a resolution calling upon each and every Republican member of our County Board to join with the 80 other Illinois Counties that have declared that they will not enforce this law. 

I call upon each and every one of you to adhere to your Party’s principles.