The Floor Amendments In Illinois (Updated)

The gun prohibitionists in the Illinois Senate are using existing House Bill 815 and House Bill 1263 as their vehicle to license shooting ranges, ban so-called assault weapons, ban new standard capacity magazines, and require registration and fees for grandfathered magazines. Both bills are the subject of hearings currently on-going by the Illinois Senate Public Health Committee.

HB 815 originally dealt with updating a nuclear safety law while HB 1263 deals with sexual offenders.

HB 815 has two amendments. The first, Senate Floor Amendment No. 001 deals with licensing shooting ranges and "large capacity ammunition feeding devices." It was introduced by Sen. Dan Kotowski (D-Chicago). The text of the amendment can be found here.

The second amendment to HB 815, Senate Floor Amendment No. 002, requires the registration of grandfathered magazines with the Illinois State Police and the payment of a $5 per magazine fee. It was also introduced by Sen. Dan Kotowski. The full text of this amendment can be found here.

HB 1263 has two amendments and both were submitted by Sen. Antonio Munoz (D-Chicago). Senate Floor Amendment No. 005 contains another range licensing bill and, more importantly, the assault weapons (sic) ban. .50 BMG firearms are also banned. The text of this amendment can be found here.

The second amendment to HB 1263, Senate Floor Amendment No. 006, deals with the existing so-called assault weapons. It requires their registration and the payment of a $10 fee per rifle to the Illinois State Police. .50 firearms will require a $15 per firearm fee along with their registration. The text of this amendment can be found here.

UPDATE: The Senate Public Health Committee who's chair and vice-chair just so happen to be Chicago Democrats have reported two of the amendments out of committee with a "do adopt" recommendation. They are Senate Floor Amendment No. 001 to HB 815 and Senate Floor Amendment No. 005 to HB 1263.

ISRA issued an alert on the bills this evening.

A pair of nightmare bills is on the move at this moment in the Illinois Senate

These two bills would:

1. Run all gun ranges out of business by imposing heavy fees, imposing special staffing requirements, warrantless searches of ranges and customers, unlimited unannounced “inspections.”

2. Ban all semi-automatic rifles, pistols, and shotguns as well as pump action shotguns.

Here are direct links to the two bills:

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocTypeID=HB&DocNum=815&GAID=11&SessionID=84&LegID=56601

and

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocTypeID=HB&DocNum=1263&GAID=11&SessionID=84&LegID=57242

EITHER OF THESE TWO BILLS WOULD END YOUR GUN RIGHTS ENTIRELY

HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO PROTECT YOUR GUN RIGHTS.

1. Follow the instructions below and contact your Illinois State Senator. Politely tell your senator that you are a law-abiding gun owner and you want them to vote AGAINST HB815 and HB1263. CALL NOW!

2. Pass this information on to your gun owning friends and family, tell them to call as well.

3. Post this alert to all Internet blogs and bulletin boards to which you belong.

The worst of the two bills, HB815 is being sponsored and pushed by anti-gun Senator Dan Kotowski. Go to his link: http://www.ilga.gov/senate/senator.asp?GA=97&MemberID=1724 Call him at the numbers listed and tell him that you do not appreciate him trying to shut down gun ranges and taking your guns away from you. He needs to hear from you!

UPDATE II: The Illinois State Rifle Association just sent out more information about the votes on the two bills in the Public Health Committee.

SENATE COMMITTEE APPROVES BILLS TO RUN RANGES OUT OF BUSINESS AND BAN 80% OF YOUR GUNS

MESSAGE FROM COMMITTEE DEMOCRATS: “Eliminating law-abiding gun owners is a good ‘first step’ towards a ‘civil society.’”

Votes on HB815 and HB1263 were split along party lines in the Senate Public Health Committee Wednesday night with the committee Democrats voting 6-4 and 6-3 to send the bills to the full senate. If these two bills become law, they will resulting most, if not all ranges in the state going out of business as well as the banning of ALL semiautomatic rifles, pistols and shotguns as well as banning all pump shotguns and rifles.

In comments made during testimony, committee Democrats stated plainly that HB815 and HB1263 were “first steps” and that these bills have as their objective the creation of a “more civil society.” In other words, elimination of lawful gun owners is a required first step for creating a more civil society. Of course, there was no mention of the impact of eliminating criminals.

HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO ON THURSDAY:

1. Call Senator Dave Syverson at (217) 782-5413 and tell him “THANK YOU” for supporting lawful gun owners by voting “NO” on HB815 and HB1263.

2. Call Senator Shane Cultra at (217) 782-6597 and tell him “THANK YOU” for supporting lawful gun owners by voting “NO” on HB815 and HB1263.

3. Call Senator Christine Johnson at (217) 782-1977 and tell her “THANK YOU” for supporting lawful gun owners by voting “NO” on HB815 and HB1263.

4. Call Senator Carole Pankau at (217) 782-9463 and tell her “THANK YOU” for supporting lawful gun owners by voting “NO” on HB815 and HB1263.

It is very important that you praise these Senators for their support.

The ringleader of the effort to shut down shooting ranges and take your guns away from you is Senator Dan Kotowski. You may wish to call him at (217) 782-3875 and politely explain to him that, as a law-abiding gun owner, you do not appreciate being treated like a criminal and that you oppose any efforts to regulate shooting ranges, ban semiautomatic firearms, or ban standard capacity magazines.