“The challenge that we see day in and day out in the city of Rockford is not dealing primarily with assault weapons or machine guns, automatic weapons. It’s dealing with a typical handgun. All of those typical weapons are usually in the hands of people who are prohibited from having them,” Morrissey said.

“As the original mission swayed, that’s when I decided that it was no longer in line with my beliefs. …So that’s why I dropped out,” Morrissey explained. “The focus should not be against law-abiding citizens. We should be focusing our enforcement on folks who have no right to carry a gun, concealed or otherwise.”

Morrissey also said that he supports concealed carry and plans to apply for a permit when the opportunity becomes available to him in Illinois.