Gun debate ranges from sweeping federal bans to enforcing Illinois' already strict laws

[July 21, 2022]  By Greg Bishop | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Illinois has among the most strict gun laws in the nation but that hasn’t stopped regular gun violence in Chicago or the most recent high profile mass shooting in Highland Park that killed seven and injured dozens.

The debate about what should be done to curb such violence continues among Illinois state lawmakers and members of U.S. Congress.

A U.S. Senate committee hearing Wednesday focused on the July 4 mass shooting in Highland Park. Some senators, like Illinois’ Dick Durbin, D-Springfield, and Tammy Duckworth, D-Schaumburg, said there should be a federal ban on certain types of weapons and magazines.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Illinois has among the most strict gun laws in the nation and there’s regular gun violence in Chicago that gets overlooked. He urged more focus on addressing mental health issues and going after criminals, not putting more laws on law-abiding citizens.

Following the hearing on the July 4 mass shooting in her town, Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering said she understands there needs to be a focus on mental health, but she urged Congress to pass a federal ban on certain types of weapons as Highland Park has.

“We are surrounded by states that have far more lenient gun laws and until those states are brought into line with the rest of us, we’re going to have this scourge,” Rotering said during a news conference.

State Rep. Bob Morgan, D-Deerfield, was in Washington D.C. for the hearing and said during a news conference he expects Illinois lawmakers to act on more gun legislation, including possibly a ban on certain types of weapons.

“If you want an immediate effective date in the special session, you would need 71 votes anytime between now and the end of December,” Morgan said.

Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering Wednesday testifying at a U.S. Senate committee hearing.

Last count, Morgan said they have 55 cosponsors for a ban on so-called “assault weapons.” If such a measure were to pass with 60 votes, it wouldn’t be able to take effect until July 1, 2023.

It’s unclear when state lawmakers will return for a special session. Legislative leaders have already signaled a special session sometime this summer to take up the issue of abortion.

Separately, state Rep. Mark Batinick, R-Plainfeild, worried a broad approach on gun legislation goes too far. He’s filed a statehouse measure to hold sponsors of people under 21 getting a Firearm Owner’s Identification card criminally liable for any wrongdoing.

“So I think there’s individual concepts like that whereas I think if you start doing too many other things, it makes the bill too heavy and it collapses under its own weight,” Batinick told The Center Square.

The Highland Park mass shooting suspect obtained a FOID card with his father as a sponsor. It’s unclear if the father will face any legal actions.

Another feature of the Highland Park mass shooting was the suspect getting a state police issued gun permit despite local police just months earlier reporting he was a clear and present danger.

State Sen. John Curran, R-Lemont, said that 2019 report to state police highlighted admissions from the suspect of illicit drug use and other prohibitors that should have prevented state police approval of a FOID card. He said that’s a failure of the current Firearm Owner’s Identification card law.

“This was just simply an instance of the [Illinois State Police] tying its own hands and not using the full extent of the authority under the FOID Act,” Curran told WMAY.

State police this week filed emergency rules to allow clear and present danger reports to be more available in the screening process.

Greg Bishop reports on Illinois government and other issues for The Center Square. Bishop has years of award-winning broadcast experience and hosts the WMAY Morning Newsfeed out of Springfield.