Quinn opens up new Rauner attack — on assault weapons

Gov. Pat Quinn opened up a new line of attack against his Republican challenger Bruce Rauner — focusing on Rauner’s support for military-style assault weapons.

Quinn is seizing on the issue as Cook County approved a ballot measure asking voters whether the military-style weapons should be banned and about universal background checks.

“There is no place in Illinois for military-style assault weapons,” Quinn said. “These weapons are specifically designed to rapidly fire at human targets and kill, only proliferating the violence epidemic that is plaguing our communities. Bruce Rauner’s strong support for military-style assault weapons is not only out-of-touch, but extremely dangerous to our children, our communities and our policemen who put their life on the line every day to keep us safe.”

During a contentious primary, Rauner stood by his support for assault weapon ownership in Illinois.

At a candidates’ forum in February, Rauner agreed with other Republican contenders that Illinois residents have the right to own assault weapons.

“We have to be aware that we have major crime problems in Illinois, and we make a mistake when politicians blame gun ownership for our crime problems. There are other issues, it’s not gun ownership,” Rauner said at the time.

Following Thursday’s event, Rauner’s campaign released a statement calling Quinn’s past anti-crime policies “disastrous for Illinois.”

“He has let numerous violent criminals out of jail early, only to see them commit more crimes. He has turned an anti-violence program into a political slush fund that is now under local and federal investigation,” the statement said. “His only answer is a non-binding election year referendum. Pat Quinn is just not serious about dealing with crime in our communities. It’s tragic.”