Dupage Policy Journal

West Chicago-based Illinois Firearms & Ammunition Inc. is expecting litigation should a broad law that would make various guns and accessories illegal pass. 

HB5855 would make many types of commonly owned guns illegal. West Chicago-based Illinois Firearms & Ammunition Inc. is located at 1002 Carolina Drive In West Chicago. 

“With the filing of HB5855 it seems Christmas has come early for G-PAC and other groups that are committed to taking away the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Illinois Citizens,” the group said on Facebook. “We have consistently heard from anti-Second Amendment legislators that they ‘don’t want to take away your guns, we only want common sense gun reforms.’ Under HB5855 their first step is to take away your magazines and force law-abiding citizens to register their firearms. The legislation goes beyond magazines used in semi-automatic rifles to also include magazines used in millions of commonly owned handguns. Their next step is to use that very registry to take away your firearms. The anti-gun crowd’s agenda has always been to incrementally peal back the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Illinois citizens. The Illinois State Rifle Association will not be entering into any negotiations on this piece of legislation. Elections have consequences. We will see the State of Illinois in court should this bill be enacted into law.” 

State Rep. Bob Morgan (D-Deerfield) sponsored the bill. Morgan’s HB5855 would make the possession of several types of firearms and accessories illegal. According to the bill's synopsis, it would be "unlawful to manufacture, deliver, sell, or purchase or cause to be manufactured, delivered, sold, or purchased or cause to be possessed by another, an assault weapon, assault weapon attachment, .50 caliber rifle, or .50 caliber cartridge. Makes it unlawful for any person to knowingly possess an assault weapon, .50 caliber rifle, or .50 caliber cartridge 300 days after the effective date of the amendatory Act, except possession of weapons registered with the Illinois State Police in the time provided. Provides exemptions and penalties. Prohibits the manufacture, delivery, sale, purchase, or possession of large capacity ammunition feeding devices.” As of this writing, it has picked up over 20 Democratic co-sponsors since being filed. The bill was referred for a hearing in the Rules Committee where it will likely see a debate in January. 

Illinois already has the sixth most restrictive gun laws in the country and some of the worst instances of gun violence, according to Everytown Research and Policy, a 501(c)(3) organization focusing on awareness and educational work related to gun violence prevention. Opponents say HB5855 would likely mean the most restrictive environment for lawful gun owners in the history of the country. For years, the state has placed various regulations on gun ownership governing.com reported.

The bill's sponsor was at the Highland Park shooting in July where seven were killed and more than 48 wounded after a gunman opened fire. In that instance, the alleged gunman, Robert Crimo III, was issued a gun permit by the Illinois State Police despite having red flags on his record for mental illness and instances of violence, which many are calling a failure of the governor’s office. “Had the Pritzker administration done what they said they were going to do, which was to review and make sure laws already on the books were being implemented more effectively, the tragedy in Highland Park might never have occurred,” Sen. Donald DeWitte (R-St. Charles) said in a statement, according to The Pantagraph.

Dan Eldridge, of the gun dealers’ association Federal Firearms Licensees of Illinois, cautioned that HB5855 would criminalize ordinary Illinoisans, saying “it’s somewhere between two and 10 million magazines, and it’s a massive impact.” Eldridge told The Center Square that “These are the standard magazines that come with a duty-sized pistol even, they’re the standard magazines that come with a rifle. These are not aftermarket extended capacity magazines.” He added that "With an immediate effective date, mere possession of a – and I’m not going to use their words, I’m going to use accurate words – mere possession of a standard-capacity magazine is a crime. There’s no getting around that. So you’ve got Second Amendment issues. You’ve got Fourth Amendment issues. You’ve got Fourteenth Amendment issues. You can’t do this.”