Hadiya Pendleton's Family & Sen. Durbin Support Bill Regulating Straw Purchasers
By Amy Cavanaugh in News on Mar 10, 2013 6:00PM
A gun-trafficking bill U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) co-sponsored is heading for a full U.S. Senate vote. On Friday the senator was at Chicago Police headquarters to discuss the bill he introduced with U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) that cracks down on straw purchasers. Straw purchasers are people with clean backgrounds who legally buy guns and then sell them to those who aren't allowed to. The bill would make it a felony to buy a gun on behalf of someone who isn't eligible to own one.
“If you think you can buy a trunk load of guns in the state of Mississippi, drive in to some neighborhood or alley way in the city of Chicago, pop open the trunk and sell it to every gang-banger who shows up with $200, get ready,” Durbin said, speaking at Chicago Police headquarters. “You’re facing a federal crime and hard time if you get caught in the commission of that.”
Part of the bill is named for Hadiya Pendleton and her mother, Cleo Cowley-Pendleton, was with Durbin and Police Chief Garry F. McCarthy on Friday to urge the passage of the bill. She said, “We need to get common sense laws on the books... We need to hold accountable those people who are committing senseless acts like this.”
Durbin is optimistic that the gun trafficking bill will become law and said that he doesn't sense strong opposition against it like there is for the ban on assault rifles.