JB Pritzker with Purge Law AP
Flanked by lawmakers and supporters, Gov. J.B. Pritzker picks up the nearly 800-page criminal justice reform bill after signing it into law during a ceremony at Chicago State University on the South Side, Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. (Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

In the deep blue Land of Lincoln, a majority of legislators blindly support imposing more gun control on the little people. As if generations of gun control in Chicago had magically transformed it into it a tranquil utopia (with “only” 736 homicides in 2022). Now, the most radical advocates of victim disarmament have threatened to withhold their support from the latest gun control package that was supposed to have all the votes needed for passage.

Meanwhile, the current legislative session ends at noon on Wednesday. If one gun control measure or another hasn’t passed by then, the sponsors will have to start from scratch in the new session, which means passage will be delayed for months.

Popcorn sales have boomed as Illinois’ gun owners watch with great interest as the competing factions of the Democrat caucus bicker over the competing bills.

One bill, Senate Bill 2226, was amended in a “gut and replace” maneuver and became the vehicle for what was supposed to be an “acceptable” compromise bill. But those wanting to ban semi-automatic guns and magazines had a problem. They didn’t ask the original bill’s sponsor — a strongly pro-gun Democrat — if she would relinquish control of her bill. She declined to do so and she refused to call it for a vote. Unless Doris Turner relents, that bill is effectively stalled.

The original House Bill 5855 alienated many Senate Democrats. Leadership had concerns that some of the Illinois Black Caucus might balk at the onerous penalties of 3 to 7 years in prison for possession of two magazines that hold over ten rounds. The bill didn’t even have a grace period provision for existing owners. They’d all be felons the day it’s signed into law. That bill has gone nowhere.

Over the weekend, Senate Democrats came out with a new “gut and replace” amendment to House Bill 5471. This latest incarnation doesn’t require gun registration for existing owners of newly-prohibited guns and allows grandfathering of existing magazines.  Furthermore, magazine capacity limits became 5 rounds for semi-auto shotguns, 10 rounds for semi-auto rifles and 15 rounds for semi-auto pistols.

But all of those changes don’t sit well with the Big Man, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who has spent the last few days in Springfield lobbying for passage of the bill. In fact, Pritzker has spent almost as much time in Springfield in the past week than he spent there in all of 2022.

The Speaker of the House isn’t a fan of the changes either, suggesting he wouldn’t support the “watered down” gun and magazine bans.

Meanwhile the hoplophobic harpies at Brady, Everytown, and Giffords have — naturally — banded together to promote passage of the more radical version of the bill.

Everytown, Giffords, Brady Call on Illinois Senate Lawmakers to Pass Strong and Enforceable Assault Weapons Prohibition, Part of Critical Protect Illinois Communities Act

Nevermind that the bill they want passed, SB2226, is currently tied up by its pro-gun original sponsor who won’t allow it to be called for a vote.

So the fight over further limiting Second Amendment rights in Illinois is quite the sh!t show in the Land of Lincoln’s capital. Sunday night, after returning to Springfield, the Senate didn’t bother calling for a vote.

On Monday morning, Senate Democrats threw out yet another “gut and replace” amendment to House Bill 5471. At first blush, not only is a registry included in this one, but it requires the gun’s serial number (deemed a bridge too far by some of the Senate Democrats just a couple of days ago) along with the make and model for gun owners willing to register them with the state to keep them legal. At least until the same gun control contingent comes back next year with another bill to close the “existing owner loophole.”

Regardless of which bill finally passes — assuming one does — a coalition of pro-gun groups and organizations include Guns Save Life, FFL-IL, Aurora Sportsmen’s Club, the Illinois House Freedom Caucus, Chuck Michele’s Second Amendment Law Center and plenty of others will be ready to file suit in federal court to block its implementation.

Those wishing to help our battle here in Illinois can contribute to our legal fund here at FFL-IL, or to the Second Amendment Law Center here (which is tax deductible and they will be backstopping our Illinois legal teams).

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49 COMMENTS

  1. What ever comes out of that sewer they call the Illinois government – there are court actions waiting to be filed to injunction it and strike it down. It might end up like New York, a slug it out fist fight in SCOTUS.

    • All paid for by the taxpayers, every aspect of it. Meanwhile, they just gave themselves a nice hefty raise to $85K per year now for each legislator. I guess they figured they were doing such a great job, despite the fact that Illannoy loses over 100,000 residents per year to out-migration, mostly because of their stupidity.

    • the more extreme the bill…the more likely it will be to successfully challenge…they just can’t seem to grasp the fact that law-abiding gun owners are not the problem….

  2. What happens even in the Land of Lincoln when Gun Control is not defined by its history of rot.

  3. Pritzker, the guy always looks like he is one slice of bacon away from a major heart attack and when he smiles he looks like he needs to poop badly.

  5. Am I the only one that needs to hug the toilet and puke over the same lame ass image format used in every photo op of someone standing around with their prized…whatever with a bunch of numb-nuts standing behind them applauding?

    I don’t care what it was, I would NOT, never ever stand behind ANYONE for any reason and applaud like a sap for a staged fake-ass photo.

    • Sad sight to see history illiterate fools applauding their democRat slave master for what amounts to nothing more than backdoor Jim Crow Gun Control.

  6. “a strongly pro-gun Democrat”

    I know all those words are English, but I don’t think they go together like that…

  7. Gawd….the stupidity of it all.
    SCOTUS needs an army to enforce Bruen.

    In contrast, when Ogefell (gay marriage) dropped on a Friday I recall states opening their government offices on that weekend (what?! Gov working on the weekend?) so that they can have news broadcasts film them performing gay marriages. We have so lost the culture war.

    • “SCOTUS needs an army to enforce Bruen.”

      No, they don’t.

      They have all the tools they need, and they are using them, right now.

      One is a particularly magical phrase, the “GVR”.

      The GVR (G)rants cert, (V)acates the decision (declares it void), and (R)emands the decision back to the court that ruled it, with instructions to apply the ‘Bruin’ decision, and issue a ruling complying with that standard.

      That is the path going forward, forcing the offending court to do the right thing. And the axe over that court’s head is the threat of Justice Thomas issuing them a ruling they will *really* hate… 🙂

      • The only problem being that the hoplophobes are betting on the long game at this point and tying up the system as much as satanically possible. Thomas in particular isn’t getting any younger, and the chances of getting either a pro-freedom executive or senate (and thus new Thomas’) in the era of vote harvesting seems more remote every day.

      • SCOTUS needs to refer, to the House, a 1/2 dozen sacrificial lower court judges for impeachment for failure to do their Constitutional duty.

    • Well I announced to the wife we’re moving to Indiana. Whatever it takes. I can live with a limit of 15(or 10)rounds in my handguns. I cannot live with being labeled a criminal when I obtained my gats & ammo legally,morally and ethically! I’ve seen the evil lunacy of Commiefornia having a “legal” neutered rifle. I was “happy” I had my 30round mag rifle when BLM invaded my town. I won’t be disarmed in my old age. Other than an armed rebellion there’s no fixing ILLANNOY-or Chiraq!

        • Has just as many senators as mine and last I checked they didn’t lose congressional representatives. Walker take what you learned from the commies and give them pain at every level in your new home. That is my plan in 15-20 years.

        • That’s all there are in Indiana, hills.
          Hoosier State as in Who’s There? Wherever that came from. Almost as lame as Oklahoma is Ok.

  10. Just more of that ‘compromise’ bs. I’ll take the FPC’s approach to this kind of shit:

    Fuck You, NO!

  12. “strongly pro-gun Democrat”

    there is no such thing as a strongly pro-gun Democrat in the Illinois senate. If there was they would not be authoring anti-gun bills like this or similar.

    • The so-called “Pro-gun Dims” are generally southern/central ILLANNOY hunter/ sporting clay
      outdoorsy types. An obese Dim gal was seen whining about banning her shotgun in the Ill Senate “debate”. Totally deluded…

  13. all this
    is precisely why
    i moved to southern wisconsin
    from northern illinois
    in the summer of 2012

  15. “At least until the same gun control contingent comes back next year with another bill to close the “existing owner loophole.””

    It’s bills like that one that lead me to conclude that they have zero idea of what the ‘Bruin’ decision really means to them.

    It will be really cool to watch the look on their faces when the pure horror of what gun rights really means hits them square between the eyes.

    And we will laugh, laugh, laugh, all the way home… 🙂

  16. as a wisconsin resident
    (very little gun control in wisconsin)
    i can honestly say
    that i hope the worst possible bill becomes law in illinois
    just to watch it die
    in the appeals process
    and see all the gun control freaks
    lose their minds
    and scream at the sky

  17. These politicians passing blatantly unconstitutional laws need to be cited for Contempt of the Supreme Court and heavily fined and/or incarcerated.

    • The contempt citation by the SCotUS is called a ‘GVR’ (see a few comments above).

      They have already issued one, with many more in the future, if needed… 🙂

  18. What would happen to members of legislatures who defiantly kept passing laws that defied other SCOTUS rulings, such as Obergefell, or even the 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery?

    The outrage would be immediate, and massive. Nobody would even be able to wrap their brain around such obviously illegal legislation. Yet these clowns think they can just ignore Bruen all day long.

    • By “it” do you mean Pritzker?
      You can’t do that! Contaminate Lake Michigan and kill the corn and dairy industry in Indiana! There are good people in Illinois too!

  20. “In the deep blue Land of Lincoln…”
    simply not so. drop smod onto the city and the ripples emanating from it quickly hue purple and soon again red.
    the state is close to 13million, the metro area almost ten.

  21. This IS the government our Founders warned about……and why they penned the Second Amendment. Our Founders gave us the Second Amendment. WE the Little Peeps have to implement it as intended.

    Over 400,000,000 legal firearms;
    Over 1,000,000,000,000 rounds of ammo.
    If we were the problem,
    you would know it.
    But, just keep kickin’ We The Little Peeps,
    if you want a problem.

    “The problem is not guns.
    It’s hearts without God;
    Homes without discipline;
    Schools without prayer;
    Courts without justice;
    Politicians without Patriotism.”

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