State House committee holds final hearing about proposed ban on assault weapons

Posted on December 21, 2022
Gun control advocates hope there’s momentum for the bill – in the wake of the massacre at the July 4 parade in Highland Park, where seven people died and 48 more were injured. (Dave Dahl/WJBC)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – The red-shirted forces of Moms Demand Action gave State Rep. Denyse Wang Stoneback (D-Skokie) a standing ovation Tuesday, when she summed up her opinion of the National Rifle Association:

“A money-making operation from gun manufacturers based on half of the text of the Second Amendment,” she said during a House committee hearing into a possible assault weapons ban. “So I certainly would encourage reflection and a deeper look into the Second Amendment and how it is being misinterpreted and misconstrued currently.”

The hearing included testimony from gun advocates.

“Bottom line: this bill keeps alive systemic racism as it applies to the Second Amendment,” said Ed Sullivan, a former state representative who now lobbies for the Illinois State Rifle Association. “I can take my firearms, my mags, I can go across the border. I have the means. What about the people that don’t? Are you just going to criminalize them? there is over 70 counties in Illinois that are 2A sanctuary counties. Those folks aren’t going to get arrested.”

Gun control advocates hope there’s momentum for the bill – in the wake of the massacre at the July 4 parade in Highland Park, where seven people died and 48 more were injured.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…