Illinois Democrats Move To Tighten Firearm Regulation/Restrictions...

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

As the country struggles to understand, and come to grips with random acts of firearm violence by unstable and unbalanced individuals Illinois is already taking action to further regulate firearms. Like the millions of law abiding citizens I am torn between the right to bear firearms and finding the point at which it makes logical sense to restrict that right. In a modern society in which the tools of warfare are advanced beyond what the founders could possibly have envisioned, and the efficiency of modern armies are such that the citizens would stand no reasonable chance against the modern army, does the possession of semiautomatic assault weapons have any real purpose for the homeowner and sportsman? If deemed they do should they not be highly regulated and restricted to HELP reduce the incidents of tragedies like Sandy Hook?

I certainly do not have the answers, nor do I believe the anti-gun crowd has the answers either. Anymore than I believe Wayne LaPierre and the NRA has the answers. Reasonable minds from all sides however must come together and find answers to these questions and others. The American people are deserving of the effort. We can preserve the right to bear arms , and make our society a safer place for our children at the same time. At the same time recognizing that there will always be some level of violence even if firearms were to be banned as some advocate. There will always be criminals, unstable people, and a black market. The challenge is to reduce firearm violence to the lowest possible incident level AND protect the right to bear arms.

FOX NEWS - Illinois Senate Democrats advanced legislation late Wednesday to restrict semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity magazines, pressing forward with new gun control measures in the waning days of the session over the objections of firearms groups.

Amid the developments, the Illinois State Rifle Association issued an “urgent alert” to its members warning them that Democratic legislators were trying to push through last-minute anti-gun legislation.

“There would be no exemptions and no grandfathering,” the group stated in its alert. “You would have a very short window to turn in your guns to the state police and avoid prosecution.”

A Senate committee approved two bills, one dealing with the weapons and the other with magazines. Democratic supporters could face a tough sell in the full Senate.

One measure would ban the possession, delivery, sale and transfer of semiautomatic handguns and rifles. People who currently own such weapons could keep them but would have to register them. The bill would allow semiautomatic weapons to be used at shooting ranges, but those facilities would be regulated.

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The other bill, introduced by Democratic state Sen. Dan Kotowski, would limit ammunition magazines to 10 or fewer rounds.

Those pushing for enhanced restrictions say stricter rules are needed in the wake of a string of high-profile mass shootings -- most recently the deadly school shooting in Newtown, Conn. Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn had been trying earlier this year to pass new legislation in the wake of the Colorado movie theater shooting, but lawmakers are taking another crack at it.

Kotowski sponsored legislation in 2007 that would have prohibited assault weapons and .50-caliber rifles. His bill made it through a Senate committee but died on the floor.

Another Democratic state lawmaker, Antonio Munoz, introduced the ban on all assault weapons “designed for war.” {Read More}

I welcome and encourage anyone, from either side of this issue to point out the issues with the Illinois effort as described in the article.

Via: Memeorandum