Jump to content

In the crosshairs? State of Illinois sets sights on gun rights


InterestedBystander

Recommended Posts

Full story at link (long article)

 

https://www.thetelegraph.com/news/article/In-the-crosshairs-State-of-Illinois-sets-sights-13584107.php

 

EDWARDSVILLE When supporters first proposed making Madison County a sanctuary county for gun owners, this was what they were afraid of.

 

A bill banning new semi-automatic assault rifles and severely curtailing the possession of existing weapons is one of many pieces of gun-related legislation has been introduced in the Illinois General Assembly.

 

While that happens regularly, new super majorities in both houses and the election of Gov. J. B. Pritzker, who has expressed support for gun control, have caused a great deal of concern among gun rights advocates.

 

The issues we were concerned about before are probably going to happen, said Madison County Board Member Don Moore, R-Troy. I guess Im a little disheartened that the state, under the new governor, will infringe on our Second Amendment rights.

 

Moore was one of the backers of a referendum to make Madison County a sanctuary county for lawful gun owners.

 

Weve done our part to let them know Madison County believes in Second Amendment rights, and were going to stand up and fight, he said.

 

The assault weapon bill, SB107, was introduced Jan. 23 by State Sen. Julie Morrison, D-Deerfield, and sent to the Judiciary Committee on Jan. 30.

 

As submitted it would ban large numbers of semi-automatic rifles and some handguns and shotguns; some specifically by name and others using various criteria including the presence of pistol grips, large capacity magazines, folding or collapsible stocks, barrel shrouds and other attachments.

 

Owners of existing weapons would be allowed to keep them but the weapons would have to be registered, and the bill would be severely limited in who they could be transferred to. Failure to register would be a felony.

 

Other bills would, among other things, require Firearm Owners Identification Card applicants to provide a list of their social media accounts to the Illinois State Police, revoke FOID cards for those reporting losses or thefts of firearms in three separate incidents within a two-year period, and place restrictions on ammunition.

 

It seems like now that theres a super majority in the house and senate that theyre going to try to push through every anti-gun proposal theyve been holding back for four years, said Scott Pulaski, owner of Piasa Armory in Alton, a gun store and shooting range.

 

Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, said they are monitoring all the bills being introduced at this time and have a number of concerns.

 

Theres a lot of bills that are obviously anti-gun, but there are some pro-gun bills too, he said. Well be looking at all those bills.

 

He said the make-up of the state legislature, as well as Gov. Pritzkers stated support of gun control means they can pass some pretty bad legislation.

 

For the ISRA the proposed ban would be pretty bad.

 

Were going to have to resist this with everything we have, he said. We believe it is unconstitutional. It requires registration of your firearm. Thats always led to confiscation in the end.

 

Weapons of war or sporting rifles?...

 

Editors note: Four gun control advocacy groups were contacted for this story. One did not respond, representatives for two said they would have someone get back to us but did not, and one responded via email Unfortunately, we dont have anything to add on those bills.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...