Illinois Legislative Update on Several Bills!

Friday, May 20, 2005

Anti-gun extremists from Chicago are pulling out all the stops to push their agenda, and the pro-gun communityneeds to counter this offensive. Although the Senate has already defeated one attack on gun shows (SB 546), another, SB 1333, has surfaced. It is critical that you contact your Senator and ask him/her to oppose SB 1333. In addition, keep calling your Representative and ask him/her to oppose HB 1098, a ban on .50 cal. rifles, and HB 2414, a ban on certain semi-automatic rifles and shotguns as well as .50 cal. rifles. Illinois continues to be a state plagued by an anti-gun agenda, and defeating these bills is of paramount importance. These bills are expected to be voted on soon, so contact your Illinois lawmakers today using the General Assembly switchboard at (217) 782-2000, and urge your family, friends, and fellow firearm owners to do the same.

On the positive side, SB 57, a gun show bill that also requires the Illinois State Police to destroy the database it keeps on lawful firearm purchases, was voted out of the House on Thursday, May 19. This database is nothing more than a back door registration scheme that was never voted on by the Illinois General Assembly, and runs contrary to federal law that mandates the destruction of all personal information regarding firearm transfers that have not been denied through the National Instant Check System. SB 57 now heads back to the Senate for concurrence. In addition, the House passed SB 53, which seeks to allow the mail order sale of ammunition to Illinois FOID card holders, and is now in the hands of Governor Blagojevich (D). Finally, the Senate passed HB 340, which would waive the waiting period requirement when a gun owner trades one operating firearm for another operating firearm. Please be sure to call Governor Blagojevich at (217) 782-6830 and ask him to sign SB 53 and HB 340.