Dupage Policy Journal

DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick said U.S. Rep. Sean Casten (R-IL) “got nasty” with him in a phone call after he said he would not enforce the state’s gun ban.

Mendrick is one of around 95 sheriffs who said they won’t enforce the ban involving over 170 types of firearms and millions of guns statewide.

The law was ruled unconstitutional in a downstate court and is expected to see the same fate in other courts.

“My voters had asked me to put out a statement on my opinion of what I'll be doing on this and the way the law was written. It did nothing on enforcement,” Mendrick told Chicago’s Morning Answer radio host Dan Proft.

“We all know if you don't put who's responsible, enforcing the law, that it's going to be an unfunded mandate down at the end of the year. That's just how this works every time. And I couldn't get anybody to tell me yes or no. Will we be expected to enforce this? Until I got a call from Sean Casten, congressman, who told me that if I was willing to go to a house filled with Molotov cocktails, I should have no problem going to people's doors for this law.”

Proft pointed out Casten, a Democrat, had suggested Mendrick resign.

“And he called on you to resign,” Proft said.

“Yeah, to resign. 'Recall,' I think he said there's something like that. He told me on the phone to I have no First Amendment right as a sheriff. And I really thought that was odd, to see the shock and horror of a politician when they don't get their way or when somebody challenges them, simply because before you even started the conversation of is this right or wrong,” Mendrick said.

Mendrick added that when he pushed backed against Casten the congressman “got nasty.”

“Well, it got worse, he said some other things I'm not going to divulge just because he really got nasty with me,” Mendrick said.

Mendrick added that the lack of respect for another elected official had him question how Casten treats ordinary Illinoisans.

“But think about it, if they’ll treat your duly elected sheriff of this county that way, just think how they'll treat you,” Mendrick said.

“I mean, I couldn't believe it. I live in the definition of a hostile work environment, political intimidation.”

Casten was one of five other Democrats in Illinois’ congressional delegation who penned a letter against Mendrick.

Casten took to extreme language in his characterization of the decision by Mendrick and around 95% of the state’s sheriffs to not enforce the law saying the sheriff's “actions are going to make future mass shootings more likely.”

Mendrick answered Casten’s accusations in a statement.

"There is absolutely nothing that we are doing or not doing that would make a mass shooting more accessible in DuPage County," Mendrick said.

"In fact, I have asked on multiple occasions to increase penalties on all existing gun crimes, but it does not appear that they want to have that conversation.”

Mendrick was clear in his rebuke of the law after its signing in early January.

“I, among many others, believe that HB 5471 is a clear violation of the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution,” Mendrick said. “Therefore, as the custodian of the jail and chief law enforcement official for DuPage County, that neither myself nor my office will be checking to ensure that lawful gun owners register their weapons with the State, nor will we be arresting or housing law-abiding individuals that have been arrested solely with non-compliance of this Act.”

He has since become a focal point of angry Democrats seeking to impose their will on local law enforcement.

Political organizer Jeanne Ives, a former state representative and former gubernatorial and congressional candidate, was one of hundreds who packed into the DuPage county Board chambers in a Jan. 24 meeting.

“I stand in support of Sheriff Mendrick. He has done an outstanding job keeping our communities safe. He has also worked very hard in turning around the lives of those incarcerated in his jail,” Ives said in statement.