Illinois: Governor Pritzker deploys National Guard to assist in COVID-19 “enforcement”

From The Center Square:

The Illinois National Guard has been activated to help in the state’s response to COVID-19.

On Monday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a new executive order impacting restaurants and bars and other places with gatherings of 50 or more people such as bowling alleys, fitness centers, and theaters.

Illinois’ local governments will be first to enforce the governor's executive orders.

On Monday in Springfield at the State Emergency Operations Center, the governor said some in the National Guard members have medical backgrounds and can help expand triage if needed.

“The National Guard can help with some of that, either putting up tents or being part of the provision of equipment,” Pritzker said.

Such tents, or temporary shelters, would help with patient intake to prevent medical facilities from being overburdened.

Several law enforcement officials expect the National Guard to be used to enforce court-ordered isolation of certain individuals if those numbers were to increase beyond what local law enforcement agencies were able to handle.

Pritzker said he wants communities to manage themselves.

“There are few people who want to resist and want to talk about resistance against it, but I think, at this point, the public is kind of reigning in those outliers,” Pritzker said.

A reminder (since the Pritzker administration is extremely anti-gun) to everyone in a position of power that the National Guard CANNOT be used to enforce gun confiscation (nor any agency receiving federal funds) during an emergency. These protections of our 2A rights were put in place after what happened during Hurricane Katrina.

We are watching and will be sure to note any attempts to enact gun control (specifically confiscation attempts) during the situation. We all hope that the Governor will put his (and his party’s) agenda aside for awhile.