Illinois Senate should pass assault weapons ban

It’s time to put the handcuffs on easy access to weapons of war in Illinois.

When the Illinois Senate returns on Sunday and Tuesday, its members should pass legislation to protect Illinoisans by cracking down on powerful firearms that draw terrifying targets on our loved ones, our communities and ourselves. No one needs a weapon of war to hunt deer.

Early on Friday, the state House of Representatives passed a measure — the Protect Illinois Communities Act — that, among other provisions, would ban the sale of assault weapons and ammunition magazines that hold more than 12 rounds.

The House version also would ban devices called “switches” that essentially turn firearms into machine guns. Generally, legal guns require the trigger to be pulled for each shot. Switches turn them into fully automatic weapons that keep on firing as long as the trigger is held down. Actual machine guns are so heavily regulated by federal law that legal versions don’t show up on the streets.

As so often happens in Springfield, the House and Senate need to come to a last-second agreement to pass a bill before the legislative session runs out. The new Legislature starts on Jan. 11. Negotiators said on Friday they are working to iron out a final bill.

As the bill stood on Friday, owners of assault weapons would be allowed to keep them as long as they registered them with the state police within 300 days of the law taking effect, a requirement we support. But the sale, deliver or purchase of those weapons would no longer be legal. Owners of high-capacity magazines that hold more than 12 rounds would have to convert, dispose of or sell them within 90 days.

Whatever version emerges from the negotiations between the House and Senate must be carefully crafted, a tall order at the last minute. For example, defining which weapons are categorized as assault weapons and avoiding loopholes is a challenge. But the most essential thing is to get a bill passed. Lawmakers could debate details forever. Only six days into the new year, there already were 13 mass shootings across the nation, including one in Chicago on New Year’s Day.

In Washington, a law to crack down on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines seems unlikely to get through Congress, with its Republican House majority, despite President Joe Biden’s support. Yet eight states and the District of Columbia have enacted some kind of ban on assault weapons. Illinois should join them. Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said he is ready to sign a bill.

Illinois’ most vivid recent demonstration of the terror that military style weapons can inflict occurred at Highland Park’s July 4th parade, when seven people were killed and many more were injured. But rapid-fire firearms with high-capacity magazines frequently spread devastation on streets in Chicago and elsewhere in the state as well, leaving numerous victims dead or wounded.

Waiting until the next session to act on gun violence would simply not be acceptable. More people would die unnecessarily as time drags on, and other important issues might divert the Legislature’s attention.

Need we unnecessarily risk the next Highland Park? The next East Garfield Park, where 14 people, including three children, were hit by gunfire within seconds at a remembrance vigil last October? The next Uvalde, Texas; Sandy Hook, Connecticut; or Buffalo, New York? The next Orlando, Florida; Sutherland Springs, Texas; or El Paso, Texas? The next Las Vegas, Nevada or Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Florida?

States can’t look to gun manufacturers to help stem the carnage. The manufactures market their high-powered products in a way that can appeal to individuals who have no thought of public safety.

Even if all assault weapons can be taken off the street, other guns still will be used to commit crimes and kill people. But an assault weapons ban is a piece of the solution.

Illinoisans need — and deserve — a safer state. Get the job done now.

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