Members of the Illinois House gave preliminary approval to concealed carry legislation yesterday. A federal court says the state has until June to come up with such a law. But as Brian Mackey reports, the fight is far from over.
Lawmakers spent seven hours debating how loose or restrictive a concealed carry law should be.
The Democratic leadership in the Illinois House engineered an unusually open debate — more than a dozen amendments were considered on both sides of the issue.
REBOLETTI: “I don’t understand why we’re playing this political game for the next, I don’t know, four, five, six hours, six weeks, six months.”
Rep. Dennis Reboletti is a Republican from Elmhurst, and he has a point. Debate in the House is usually tightly controlled. Reboletti speculated the amendments — like one prohibiting concealed weapons near schools — were calculated to force potentially unpopular votes.
REBOLETTI: “We can get roll calls that can be used against everybody, and say, ‘Oh, there’s Reboletti, he wants guns in schools.’ More nonsense.”
The House vote shows a majority of lawmakers want concealed carry, and a different majority wants limits on where weapons can be taken. The sponsor of the legislation says he’ll continue to try to negotiate a compromise.
— Brian Mackey
CRIMINALS DON’T CARE ABOUT YOUR PATHETIC LAW,MUCH LESS YOUR PATHETIC SHEEP LIFESTYLE RELYING ON THIS FALSE ILLUSION OF POLICE AND ARMY TO FEED YOUR SAFETY AWARENESS