Gun silencers, short-barrel rifles at issue in lawsuit by former Madison County employee
A Madison County judge will hold the first hearing next week on a lawsuit that seeks to stop enforcement of state laws that prohibit civilians from possessing gun suppressors and short-barrel rifles.
The case was filed in July by Rob Dorman — the county’s former information technology director who was fired two years ago — against Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine and Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly. Both have motioned to dismiss.
In a recent interview, Dorman said Illinois gun laws are among the most restrictive in the United States and many are unconstitutional.
Suppressors, also known as silencers, are legal in more than 40 states.
“I have a friend who has a farm in Missouri, and we were over there plinking with a .22 Beretta with a suppressor on it, and you could sit and talk while shooting it,” Dorman said. “It doesn’t make a ton of noise. It sounds like a pellet gun, which is great. It’s a shame you can’t have it here.”
Conversations are impossible without gun suppressors, Dorman said, because people have to wear heavy ear protection.
Illinois also bans civilian possession of rifles with barrels shorter than 16 inches. Some people consider them dangerous because they can be more easily concealed in a bag or jacket.
“Basically, I like to shoot, and I don’t want my rights deprived,” Dorman said. “(A short-barrel rifle) is a type of rifle that I can’t own here, but I could in other parts of the country.”
Dorman’s attorney, Tom Maag, filed the lawsuit in in July in Madison County Circuit Court (under the spelling “Doorman”). Maag owns Benbow City Sports, a firearms business in Wood River.
Haine and Kelly filed motions to dismiss the case in August and September, respectively. The first hearing is set for Tuesday with Associate Judge A. Ryan Jumper.
Haine’s motion argued that Dorman lacks standing because he hasn’t been “investigated, charged or prosecuted for any violation” and has suffered no injuries that would entitle him to relief.
Even if Dorman had suffered injuries, they wouldn’t have resulted from action by the state’s attorney, the motion stated. “Mr. Haine did not enact the cited statues, nor does he have the authority to repeal those laws.”
Haine declined comment on Thursday.
“Upholding our Constitutional rights, including the Second Amendment, is a bedrock principle of State’s Attorney Haine’s office,” spokesman Brian Brueggemann stated in an email.
“In fact, in 2021 we filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the Illinois Supreme Court, arguing that FOID cards are unconstitutional pursuant to the Second Amendment. That being said, we can’t comment on pending litigation against this office.”
In 2020, the Madison County Board fired Dorman and county Administrator Doug Hulme. Officials accused them of accessing employee emails for political gain and leveraging information in a pay-for-play scheme.
The two men strongly deny the accusation. The Illinois attorney general’s office declined to file charges.
Dorman, a former IT specialist in the aviation industry, has spent the past two years filing lawsuits — which some county officials have called “frivolous” — and taken other action to “clear his name.”
Hulme also has filed multiple lawsuits related to his firing. He called Dorman a “conservative hero” in a recent email.
Dorman’s Second Amendment lawsuit includes three counts. It states that he wants to acquire a Model 1911 .45 caliber pistol with an attachable shoulder stock and a 5.56 mm rifle with a 14.5-inch barrel, as well as a gun suppressor.
All are prohibited under Illinois laws that Dorman wants the judge to declare unconstitutional.
“I imagine this will go all the way to the Supreme Court in Illinois and maybe the United States,” Dorman said. “I don’t know yet. ... Whenever I set my mind to something, I generally do not give up until I succeed.”
This story was originally published October 7, 2022 at 6:14 AM.
