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Anti-gun extremist legislators in Springfield have made a push to promote attacks on law-abiding gun owners, but fell short. House Bill 4393--which sought to limit the number of handguns a law-abiding citizen could purchase--and House Bill 731--which sought to expand the current mandatory storage law, making it virtually impossible for law-abiding gun owners to store a firearm in a way that would leave it readily accessible for self-defense--both failed to garner the necessary 60 votes needed for passage in the House. Unfortunately, these bills remain a threat, as a procedural move was used to basically erase the vote, as if it never happened. This is a common tactic used by anti-gun legislators in Illinois.
A third bill, House Bill 758, failed to pass out of the House, but could still be brought up in the future. HB758 would have created a ban on the private transfer of firearms.
All of these victories, however, could be reversed at any time, and we anticipate renewed attacks next week, so it is critical that you keep pressuring your State Representative, and urge him or her to oppose these, and other, attacks on our Right to Keep and Bear Arms. The following is a run-down of just some of the bills that pose a serious threat to the Second Amendment in Illinois:
House Bill 796 would create a new state-based licensing bureaucracy for firearm dealers;
House Bill 4357 would ban countless semi-automatic firearms and .50 cal. rifles and ammunition;
House Bill 5191 would grant the Department of State Police broader authority to revoke a Firearm Owner's Identification Card (FOID Card) based on allegations that may not be supported by independent judicial findings, or "documented" cases where the FOID Card holder is unable to challenge or appeal the "documentation";
House Bill 5227 would require most law-abiding citizens who sell a handgun to another law-abiding citizen to include a trigger lock or other device "designed to prevent the handgun from being discharged" with the transfer;
Senate Bill 1007 would ban the manufacture, possession, delivery, sale, and purchase of standard capacity ammunition magazines capable of holding more than ten (10) cartridges. This bill is worded so broadly that it would also ban certain firearms, such as some Henry rifles, which have attached tubular magazines capable of holding more than ten rounds of ammunition. This lever-action rifle, whose design dates back to the 1860s, could be prohibited under SB 1007, making this bill far more than a magazine ban.
One piece of good news came, surprisingly, from the House Executive Committee. While this committee regularly reports out anti-gun legislation, it rejected House Bill 4259, an ammunition serialization/encoding bill. HB 4259 would require all ammunition purchased and sold be encoded with a serial number. All ammunition not coded would be required to be disposed of by January 1, 2011. This is just one of several bills that seek to implement this new gun control scheme, and while all remain alive, technically, the vote this week in Executive Committee casts serious doubt on their future viability.
Please continue to contact your State Legislators and urge them to oppose any attack on your Second Amendment rights! To find your State Legislator please click here.
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