Alphecca

Illinois House Shoots Down Transport Bill

I wrote last week about the Illinois State Senate supporting a bill that would have unified the state's firearm transport laws but now the Illinois House has rejected the measure:

In a show of strength by gun-control advocates, the Illinois House on Thursday defeated a measure backed by the National Rifle Association that would have overruled tough local gun laws in dozens of municipalities.

Instead of backing the NRA, House lawmakers heeded the pleas of Gov. Rod Blagojevich and other leading Democrats who argued that the state should uphold local ordinances regulating the transportation of firearms in automobiles. Many of those local laws are more restrictive than the state's.

"Many communities across our state are taking extra steps to protect their residents from gun violence," Blagojevich said in a written statement released after the vote. "I vetoed this legislation because it undermines those efforts to keep their residents safe. I applaud members of the House for resisting the powerful National Rifle Association and doing the right thing for their constituents."

The NRA wanted a single statewide rule on how gun owners can transport their guns. According to current state law, guns being transported must be inaccessible in the vehicle, broken down in a nonfunctioning state or unloaded and closed in a case. Gun owners can choose from among those options as long as they have a valid firearm license.

But some municipalities have laws that are more specific, such as the gun must be broken down for transport or it must be both unloaded and out-of-reach. Gun-rights advocates argued that that wasn't fair, and they persuaded lawmakers last spring to pass legislation making the state law the only one people have to follow. Blagojevich vetoed the legislation.

Senators this week voted to override the governor's veto, and the NRA pushed hard for the House to follow suit. Aides to Blagojevich, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and Cook County State's Atty. Richard Devine won the day, however, helping to persuade lawmakers to back the governor.