More Attacks on the Second Amendment on the Horizon in Illinois!

The 95th Illinois General Assembly begins session next week, and we can expect another busy year of defending our Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

While last November's elections were an overall success, anti-gun Governor Rod Blagojevich (D) was reelected, along with many legislators who have long anti-gun records, so we anticipate a renewed assault on the Second Amendment in Springfield.  On Wednesday, January 3, one of the most ardent supporters of the gun ban crusade in Illinois, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley (D), revealed his anti-gun fervor has not waned one iota in 17 years. 

Daley’s proposals this week include a ban on countless semi-automatic handguns, rifles, and shotguns, as well as .50 caliber rifles.  In addition, the mayor, along with anti-gun state Representative Edward Acevedo (D-2) and state Senator John Cullerton (D-6), proposed  new restrictions on the private transfer of handguns between law-abiding citizens; expanding the current mandatory storage law, thus making it more difficult for law-abiding gun owners to use a firearm for personal protection in the home; creating a new state-based licensing bureaucracy for firearm dealers, in addition to the current federal system; and limiting the number of handguns a law-abiding citizen may purchase. 

According to a recent Associated Press article, Sen. Cullerton claimed, “There’s been a change in attitudes down in Springfield,” apparently alluding to modest gains made by Democrats in the Illinois General Assembly in November.  Cullerton seems to forget, however, that numerous lawmakers, including many from his own party, do not share his opposition to the Second Amendment.  That said, the Illinois pro-Second Amendment community should be prepared for a more heated battle than we have seen in several years. 

With many new faces in the legislature, some of whom have been reluctant to elaborate on their views on firearms, it is critical that NRA members, gun owners, hunters, and sportsmen renew their efforts to contact their elected officials and urge them to oppose any attacks on our Right to Keep and Bear Arms. 

Please take the time to contact your state senator and representative and urge him or her to stand up for your rights and protect the Second Amendment.