Illinois: Dealer Licensing and Gun Ban Bills to Considered Next Week

House to vote on gun ban legislation this week.  Contact your state Representative today!

On Wednesday, February 28th, Illinois state House Speaker Michael Madigan intends to hear and possibly bring to a vote, the egregious dealer licensing bill, Senate Bill 1657 as well as soon-to-be-introduced legislation to ban commonly owned semi-automatic rifles.  It is important that you contact your state Representative and Senator and urge them to OPPOSE SB 1657 and any other gun control legislation that may be brought up.  Click the “Take Action” button below to contact your state Representative and Senator.

Senate Bill 1657 would create onerous mandatory regulations, fees potentially in the thousands of dollars and excessive amounts of red tape that would almost assuredly force the closure of many firearm dealers, and prevent prospective owners from opening new ones.  The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) already licenses and closely monitors all federally licensed firearm dealers (FFLs) and strictly enforces any violation of federal law. 

We also expect legislation to be introduced to ban many types of commonly-owned semi-automatic rifles as well and standard capacity magazines that hold more than ten rounds of ammunition.  This legislation attempts to brand these firearms as “assault weapons” to drum up unnecessary fear of their ownership.  In reality, these firearms are only being defined by aesthetic features that in no way affect the functionality of the rifle.  Semi-automatic firearms only fire one shot per action of the trigger, and such technology has been available to American consumers for over a century.  Semi-automatic rifles and standard capacity magazines are commonly owned by law-abiding citizens for various purposes such as self-defense, recreation, competition, and hunting.

Again, please click the “Take Action” button to contact your state Representative and Senator and urge them to OPPOSE SB 1657 and any other gun control legislation that may be brought up.