Sangamon
County Rifle Association
Right Reason on Second Amendment Rights
Springfield, Illinois
Right Reason on Second Amendment Rights
Springfield, Illinois
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Sangamon
County Rifle Association
Right Reason on Second Amendment Rights Springfield, Illinois |
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 Special Session Shenanigans By Jim Butler, President Sangamon County Rifle Association August 2007 GunNews Governor Rod Blagojevich on July 9, stunned and angered lawmakers who accused him of using a highly emotional gun-control issue to divert attention from the fiscal breakdown crisis that he helped create and divide an Illinois House solidly against his extravagant spending plans. As usual he announced his gun control support in Chicago, but ran off without answering reporters questions, saying he had to get to Springfield for one of his rare visits there. One of the gun-control issues he is trying to pass in the legislature House would ban the sale, purchase and possession of firearm magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. The ban has already passed in the Illinois Senate, when on May 1st, Senator Dan Kotowski (D-Park Ridge), formerly a anti-gun paid lobbyist, now on the public payroll, who with only an hour's notice sneaked a hostile amendment onto Senator A.J. Wilhelmsi's bill SB1007 in the infamous Public Health Committee. The amendment authored by Senator Kotowski, was reminiscent of the failed Clinton Gun Ban, that limited legal magazines to 10 rounds. The federal ban failed to make a difference one way or the other during the 10 years it was in effect. The original intent of the Illinois SB1007 was to address the section of the criminal code which deals with the sexual exploitation of childen. The Bill was gutted by Kotowski and replaced with his anti-gun language. Is there anything that people like this won't do to take our Second Amendment Rights away? They have no shame! One of the myths put forth by the anti-self-defense crowd is that high capacity guns lead to more deadly shootings. Much of this myth comes from the fact that the general availability of high-capacity handguns briefly preceded the rise in the crack cocaine trade, which brought a new kind of violence in local drug wars. The number of shots fired by criminals has not changed significantly even with the increased capacity of handguns and other firearms. Indeed, the number of shots from revolvers (all within 6-8 round capacity) and semi-automatics were about the same - 2.04 vs. 2.53. In a crime or gun battle, there is seldom time or need to shoot more. According to FBI Uniform Crime Statistics, 1966 - 1995, fatal criminal shootings declined from 4.3% to 3.3% from 1974 through 1995, when the increase in semi-automatics and large capacity handguns were increasing at their fastest rate. Fatal shootings of police officers declined sharply from 1988 through 1993. In their "Epidemiological changes in gunshot wounds in Washington, D.C.", Archives of Surgery, 1992, authors Webster, Champion, Gainer and Sykes, report that drug dealers tend to be "more deliberate in their efforts to kill their victims by shooting them multiple times". High capacity magazines are not a major crime problem as the 10 year federal ban has shown. Tens of thousands if not millions are owned and used by law-abiding citizens every year in a responsible manner. Crime is rampant because we condone it, permit it and submit to it. With most legislators focused on the budget, electric rate relief, property taxes, education and mass transit, this governor defies logic in his ongoing quest to start new expensive programs that the state can't afford. His newest proposals for gun-control are just a ploy to take the heat off of him in the budget battle fiasco. Even the Chicago legislators seem to be tired of his childish antics. As I See It Index Return to SCRA Home Page |