Daley's Annual Gun Legislation Package Announced

By Sam Bakken in News on Jan 6, 2005 10:03PM

As expected, Mayor Daley once again announced a package of gun legislation he hopes state legislators will pass in their coming session that starts January 10. The basic idea behind the package is to "...give the courts the power to fine and shut down gun dealers who help customers avoid background checks; who sell them large numbers of handguns without filing the required reports; or who sell handguns to residents of cities like Chicago where they are illegal."

From the Mayor's press release:

Other bills in the Mayor’s package would:
--Require gun dealers to obtain licenses from the Illinois State Police.
--Close the gun-show loophole, which allows people to buy guns at shows without a background check.
--Limit handgun purchases to one per person per month.
--Ban semiautomatic assault weapons, along with .50-caliber firearms.

For years Daley has sent packages of gun control legislation to Springfield only to have it shot down (pun intended). Last year, frustrated by the measures' failure in the Illinois Legislature, the City of Chicago filed suit along with gun violence victims against gun manufacturers. The city's adoption of an anti-tobacco strategy, litigation instead of legislation, didn't work. The Illinois Supreme Court Judge dismissed the suits in November.

Republican support for the measures is needed and in the past downstate legislators have been reticent to pass such measures. Blago's response to the package so far has been tepid. As we've mentioned before here on Chicagoist, Blago is scared of the ISRA.