Illinois Sportsmen and Gun Owners Against<BR>Brick Wall in State Legislature

The Illinois House and Senate could take action on these bills at any time! It is urgent that you call and write your State Representative and State Senator immediately and urge them to oppose these bills. Also, continue to call your elected officials and remind them that you will not accept a gun ban.

On Thursday, March 13, SB 1195 (Semi-Auto Manufacture, Transfer and Possession Ban) passed the Senate Judiciary Committee by a vote of 6-4. SB 1195 now comes before the Illinois Senate for debate.

Following this action, the anti-gun House Speaker Michael Madigan reconvened the House Judiciary Committee, substituting two anti-gun legislators for pro-gun legislators who had voted to kill HB 2532 (Daley’s Gun Dealer Licensing and Gun Registration Bill). As a result, HB 2532 is now headed to the full House for a vote. Additionally, HB 2356 (Daley’s Gun Show Ban) also passed committee this week.

Here is how this legislation impacts sportsmen, gun owners and the industry in and outside of Illinois:

SB 1195-Complete Semi-Auto Ban

PREAMBLE OF SB 1195:

“(720 ILCS 5/24-1.7 new)
Sec. 24-1.7. (a) The General Assembly finds …that the use of these weapons, devices, or attachments for sport or recreation is substantially outweighed by the danger these weapons or devices present to human life, and that restrictions should therefore be placed on the manufacture, delivery, and possession of these weapons, devices, and attachments.”

ATTENTION HUNTERS: SB 1195 bans any semi-automatic firearm with a bore diameter of .50 caliber and larger, and a magazine capacity over 5 rounds. This includes many 10, 12, 16, 20 and 28 gauge semi-automatic shotguns.

SB 1195: Outlaws the manufacture, possession, sale and transfer of AR-15s, M1As, FALs, plus lower and upper receivers, magazines and magazine parts capable of holding more than 10 rounds, including black powder hunting rifles with a bore diameter greater the .50 caliber.

Under SB 1195: Individuals must surrender their firearms to the State or local police within 90 days of enactment, remove it from the state or destroy the firearm.

This means Illinois based companies: Armalite, Les Baer, Rock River Arms, Springfield Armory, DS Arms, and others will be unable to continue to employ their workers and prohibited from manufacturing these firearms for individuals or to fulfill current contracts with the U.S. military. Millions of dollars of state income tax revenue, corporate taxes and sales taxes will be lost forever in Illinois, at the same time that the state is facing a $5 billion dollar budget deficit.

Non-Compliance with any part of SB 1195 will cause you to be charged with aFELONY.

Call your Senator and tell himNO on SB 1195!

HB 2532-Total Registration of Gun Owners

Under HB 2532, state and local police will keep a registry of all your firearm purchases, the location of you and your firearm, how you paid for it and when you bought your firearm.

HB 2532 will allow state and local police to set-up regional offices in other jurisdictions to track firearm owners. They will enforce this law by engaging in unlimited, warrantless searches of your gun shop and the copying of the dealers records at any time and place without court supervision.

HB 2532 creates an internet database registration system of your firearm purchases and sales that may be checked by law enforcement at any time--without cause.

If you have purchased a firearm in the last two years, your gun shop is obligated to forward that information to the new central gun registry.

Tell Your State RepresentativeNO on HB 2532!

HB 2356-Gun Show Ban, Hunting Club, Trap and Skeet, Etc.

HB 2356 Definition of a Gun Show:

Under HB 2356, a "Gun show" is any “event or function sponsored by a national, state, or local organization devoted to the collection, competitive use, or other sporting use of firearms, or an event or an organization or association that sponsors functions or events devoted to the collection, competitive use, or other sporting use of firearms in the community.”

HB 2356 Will:

Stop you from selling any firearm to anyone while at any organized shooting event, gun club, range, trap or skeet tournament, etc., including your family and friends, without going through a dealer--who can charge any fee he wants for the service.

All of this despite the fact any purchaser in the state of Illinois is already required to undergo a background check prior to receiving an FOID card.

Tell Your State RepresentativeNO on HB 2356!

Conclusion:

Where is Governor Blagojevich in this debate? His campaign statements to protect sportsmen like you in 2002 directly contradict his support for these anti-gun bills, which is why his staff is backpedaling in statements to the press. When asked why a representative for the Governor did not attend the hearings, Blagojevich staffer Tom Schafer said, “I don`t want you to read too much into [the fact] that we weren`t there." (March 13, 2003Chicago Sun Times)

Blagojevich’s anti-gun stance in the State House, Congress, and the Governor’s mansion continues to threaten hundreds of jobs at factories supplying the U.S. military with firearms to defend American interests. He is also threatening a law-abiding hunting and sporting industry that contributes $642 million in salaries and wages plus $89 million in State Tax Revenue.