Pritzker slays the gun lobby

By Shia Kapos for POLITICO

January 11, 2022

With state lawmakers at his side Tuesday night, Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law an assault weapons ban that he says will help put an end to senseless killings.

The governor hopes it sends a message to the gun lobby, too. “There is a very powerful lobby in the state of Illinois that has prevented passage of a bill like this,” Pritzker said after signing the bill into law in the Capitol Rotunda. “It took a lot of strength and gumption, and understanding and willingness to stand up to very powerful forces.”

They shall overcome: Pritzker said passage by both chambers, which are controlled by Democrats, shows “that you can overcome the gun lobby. We've shown that here in Illinois, we can do that nationally.”

Going national: With the new law Illinois becomes the ninth state to ban military-style firearms. Pritzker said he plans to talk to governors around the country to get more states to take similar action — and he says he'll take to folks in Washington, D.C., to push for a national assault-weapons ban, too.

With Pritzker’s signature, the state immediately banned the sale of military-style weapons and high-capacity magazines.

Earlier this week, lawmakers weren’t so sure the measure would pass Senate muster. After some behind-the-scenes negotiating, a new bill emerged that wasn't so different from the one the House passed. Negotiations worked.

The bill was initiated by state Rep. Bob Morgan after the horrific mass shooting in Highland Park last year.

The signing was emotional for Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch. By his side was his mom, Willie Mae Welch, who knows violence first-hand. When her sister was gunned down in front of their church, she and her husband took in her three nieces and raised them alongside their sons. “When we organize, we win,” said the speaker, who championed the bill after it seemed stalled.

State Senate President Don Harmon acknowledged that gun violence touches every corner of the state on a daily basis. “I spent my entire career working to protect people from it. And sometimes it feels like we haven't even made a dent. But today with this new law, we begin to push back against weapons whose only intent is to obliterate other human beings.”

Opponents say they’ll take the state to court. And skeptics wonder if obliterating high-powered weapons is even possible. Will gun owners who already have assault weapons register them as the new law demands? Will law enforcement really be able to crack down on those who don’t? And most importantly, will the law put a dent in the violence?

Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton hopes so. “We need those communities to be safe to be our best selves both physically and mentally,” she said.