Opponents of legislation that would ban the sale and ownership of assault-style weapons in Illinois are concerned not only with the scope of the bill, but with the haste they say Democrats are moving it through the legislative process.
Hearings on House Bill 5855, also called the “Protect Illinois Communities Act,” took place Monday and Thursday in Chicago with a third hearing scheduled for Tuesday. As of noon Friday, 13,300 witness slips have been filed in favor of the bill, and 20,693 opposed to the bill. Witness slips for or against it can be submitted at bit.ly/3FBU3mz.
“I am absolutely 100% opposed to it,” said state Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer, R-Jacksonville. “We disagree fundamentally on what the U.S. Constitution says. Some think the Second Amendment was about hunting rights, but they were trying to get away from a king, a tyrant; that was the original purpose of that amendment.”