Posted: 2/23/2005 7:55:36 PM EDT
| So what did you all think of the lobby day? |
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It made the news :-) Gun friends, foes face Capitol fight By Christi Parsons and Ray Long Tribune staff reporters Published February 24, 2005 SPRINGFIELD -- As the gun lobby flooded the Statehouse with supporters Wednesday, a major showdown began shaping up in the House between members who back Mayor Richard Daley's anti-gun package and those who want to loosen weapons restrictions already on the books. Gun-rights supporters flexed their muscle by winning approval in a House committee packed with Downstate lawmakers for a series of pro-gun measures, including bills aimed at watering down Chicago's ban on handguns. Meanwhile, anti-gun lawmakers on Thursday are queued up to move their own proposals--including measures to limit handgun purchases and ban many assault weapons--through a committee more sympathetic to their position. That sets the stage for a major confrontation over gun control in the full House in the coming weeks that will pit urban and Downstate lawmakers against each other. It also could pressure Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich to take sides in a politically sensitive battle of which he has tried to steer clear. "Basically, it's going to be a bare-knuckled fistfight on the floor," said Todd Vandermyde, a lobbyist for the National Rifle Association. 30 NRA-backed bills The NRA is pushing more than 30 bills ranging from a proposal that would let hunters use handguns to shoot wild turkeys to legislation that would lower from 21 to 18 the age at which a person may get a firearm owner's permit without parental approval. Daley's package, parts of which are expected to be heard Thursday in the House Human Services Committee, includes a ban on semi-automatic assault weapons and a proposal that would restrict a person to buying no more than one handgun a month. The panel is made up of members generally friendly to the mayor's efforts. Blagojevich represented a Northwest Side district in Congress before becoming governor, and in Washington he was one of the most vocal advocates of strong new gun-control laws. That stand caused him trouble with Downstate voters in the Democratic primary for governor in 2002, and he has been less aggressive in pushing anti-gun measures since. An aide to Blagojevich said the governor supports the mayor's legislative package and has "pledged to do whatever we can to help those bills pass." That said, lobbyists for Blagojevich's Department of Natural Resources registered as favoring one of the gun lobby's bills at Wednesday's hearings. The measure would nullify any municipal bans on the ownership of rifles or shotguns. Blagojevich aides later said the governor opposes so-called local pre-emption measures and ordered the official notification of support withdrawn. Still, it was a successful day for the NRA and its state affiliate, the Illinois State Rifle Association, as more than 200 gun advocates rallied at the Capitol. At a packed meeting of the House Agriculture and Conservation Committee, vice chairman Brandon Phelps (D-Norris City) was sporting an ISRA lobby day button. Panel backs pro-gun bills The committee advanced a Phelps bill to override any local ban on rifles and shotguns, as well as a second one to override local bans on any hunting weapon, which also includes some handguns used during deer season. The panel also approved a bill to let gun owners sue the state when it is tardy in awarding Firearm Owner Identification cards and another to get rid of a brief state-mandated waiting period for taking possession of a weapon after its purchase if the new gun is being traded in for another. Meanwhile, gun-control advocates were seeking support to take the state in the opposite direction with a blunt appeal to soccer moms and their families. "We've got to hear their opinions," said Rep. Willie Delgado (D-Chicago), who is sponsoring part of the mayor's package. "One thing (the debate) will do is provide citizens with a clear view of what's happening in Illinois with gun safety and gun ownership and help us define, once and for all, where Illinois should be." Sen. John Cullerton (D-Chicago), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the votes will be "real close" in the Senate over legislation he is sponsoring to close the gun-show loophole and impose a ban on assault weapons either modeled on an expired federal ban or expanding upon it. Pressure will be on suburban Republican senators because they could be the swing votes on anti-gun legislation, and several of them are facing contests in two years, Cullerton said. Chicago Democrats in the legislature largely have safe seats, but Republicans often face primary challenges that pit moderates against conservatives. Moderate GOP incumbents who take pro-gun positions could blunt an issue for the primary, but then be forced to defend those stances against Democratic opponents in a general election battle. "It helps us either way," Cullerton said. "Either they vote for the bill and it passes or they vote `no' and we try to defeat them." |