Illinois Your Second Amendment Rights are Being Attacked!

The legislative session is heating up, and there are some firearm-related bills of which the pro-gun community needs to be aware. 

The first, HB 2414, introduced by Representative Edward Acevedo (D-2), is the bill on which we have previously reported that seeks to ban certain semi-automatic rifles and shotguns, as well as .50 caliber rifles.  Anti-gun extremists, led by Governor Blagojevich (D) and Chicago Mayor Daley (D), continue to pressure lawmakers to support this attack on the Second Amendment, as well as look for ways to "water down" the bill to make it more palatable to wavering legislators. 

Another anti-gun bill, HB 4694, introduced by Representative Deborah Graham (D-78), is a mandatory storage bill that would require law-abiding gun owners to store firearms in a manner that would leave them useless for personal protection, or face criminal charges.  One provision of this legislation goes so far as to state that firearms be "unloaded and disassembled and placed in a securely locked box or container." 

Finally, HB 4693, introduced by Representative Deborah Graham (D-78), would create an unnecessary bureaucratic redundancy by requiring all federally licensed firearm dealers that sell handguns to also be licensed by the State of Illinois.  Furthermore, this legislation could allow reckless lawsuits to be filed against dealers licensed to sell handguns, in spite of the NRA-backed federal law enacted last year that specifically prohibits such frivolous suits designed to drive dealers out of existence not by winning the cases, but by saddling the dealers with huge legal fees as they defend their lawful businesses. 

Please continue to contact your legislators and urge them to oppose HB 2414, and also urge them to oppose HB 4694 and HB 4693. 

As for pro-gun legislation, HB 4529, introduced by Representative John Bradley (D-117), would allow FOID card applicants to sue the Illinois Department of State Police if that agency fails to act on applications within the 30-day time period mandated by law. 

This legislation was introduced in response to recent reports that FOID card applications and renewals were taking as long as 50 days to be processed. 

Please contact your legislators and urge them to support HB 4529.  State Senators can be reached at (217) 782-5715 and State Representatives can be reached at (217) 782-8223.