Since the mass shooting at last year’s Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois has moved swiftly on gun control measures. The most controversial has been the ban on so-called assault weapons.
Richard Pearson
The Illinois State Rifle Association and other pro-2nd Amendment groups on Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit claiming the ban “infringes on the rights of law-abiding citizens” to possess such firearms and extended magazines “for the defense of self and family and other lawful purposes.”
On Monday evening, the Illinois state Senate passed an assault weapons bill with some changes to the version passed by the House on Friday. The bill will now return to the House for a concurring vote before heading to the governor’s desk.
Illinois legislators left Springfield a couple of weeks ago, but they’re already heading back. Here are some of the items on the docket.
The last assault weapons ban expired in 2004, but a new study finds that had that ban remained in place, as many as 30 mass shootings could have been prevented. We speak with the study's lead author, Lori Ann Post, and Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association.
It’s been two years since an aggrieved worker at the Henry Pratt warehouse in suburban Aurora killed five people. Advocates for gun control say in that time, Illinois still hasn’t taken the necessary steps to fix problems with state firearms laws.
