H.Callahan
07-02-2013, 03:22 PM
...and here we go again...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/clout/chi-quinn-writes-stricter-rules-into-concealed-carry-bill-20130702,0,7934500.story
By Ray Long and Monique Garcia Clout Street
2:01 p.m. CDT, July 2, 2013
Gov. Pat Quinn today inserted stricter gun control measures into a high-profile concealed carry bill, sending back the carefully crafted measure to lawmakers who are wary of any changes.
According to the governor's veto message, Quinn moved to ban guns from all places that serve alcohol, allow people with permits to carry only one concealed weapon that can hold only 10 rounds of ammunition, required guns to be completely concealed instead of partially, give employers more rights to regulate guns in their businesses, and removed a provision to prevent home-rule towns from enacting assault weapons bans.
"I have carefully reviewed every part of this legislation. This is a flawed bill with serious safety problems that must be addressed," Quinn wrote in his veto message. "Therefore, I am compelled to use my constitutional authority to rectify several specific issues, to establish a better law to protect the people of Illinois."
While the Democratic governor is within his powers to recommend changes for lawmakers to accept or reject, Quinn’s move also raises the possibility that the General Assembly could fail to agree on either option and leave Illinois with a wide-open gun law that even sponsors of the concealed carry law have sought to avoid.
The pressure now is on lawmakers to act before a July 9 deadline that a federal appellate court gave Illinois to put in place a law allowing people to carry concealed firearms. The ruled in December that Illinois must end its status as the only state in the nation with a ban on allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons in public.
Sponsoring Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg, already has filed a motion to override the governor's changes.
"A deal is a deal, we had a compromise. It's too short of a notice now to go back on this. As you know, a week away is the deadline. These are things that if the governor was really serious about it, he would have had a member of the General Assembly running a trailer bill to make changes."
Phelps said Quinn went beyond the "scope of the constitution" in his rewrite, saying the limit on magazines is an issue separate from concealed carry.
"This is a whole rewrite," Phelps said. "He is nothing more than politically pandering to Chicago. He won (four) counties last time round, and one of them was Cook County and he's pandering to them."
Specifically, Quinn recommended that citizens be allowed to carry only one concealed weapon that can carry only 10 rounds of ammunition — a major change from the current lack of limits in the legislation.
"The bill provides no cap on the number of guns or on the size or number of ammunition clips that may be carried. Instead, it allows individuals to legally carry multiple guns with unlimited rounds of ammunition, which is a public safety hazard,” Quinn wrote in a message to lawmakers.
“Recent shootings, such as the horrific tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, where a gunman fired 154 bullets in less than five minutes, have put a spotlight on the extreme and unnecessary danger posed by high-capacity ammunition magazines,” Quinn wrote.
“If Illinois is going to legalize the carrying of loaded, concealed guns, our state should do so with common sense and a commitment to preventing mass violence,” according to a copy of the message. “The legislation should clarify that a license will permit an individual to carry one concealed gun and one ammunition clip that can hold no more than 10 rounds of ammunition,” Quinn said.
Quinn recommended that concealed weapons not be allowed in places where there is any alcoholic-beverages served. The bill call for allowing it where the majority of sales were from food. He disagreed with limits placed on home-rule communities that may wish to have tougher gun laws. He sought to tighten employer rights to regulate firearms.
The Illinois State Rifle Association ripped Quinn, saying he is severely restricting how and where citizens may carry firearms. The group predicted an override.
"Self defense isn't some sort of carnival game where the house stacks the odds against the good guy," ISRA Executive Director Richard Pearson said in a statement. "We're talking about defending the lives of everyday Illinoisans here. The new restrictions appearing in Quinn's amendatory veto encumber good citizens to the point where carrying concealed becomes pointless – which is exactly the intention of the governor and his friends in the gun control movement. "
Seeking re-election in 2014, Quinn’s move to tighten the proposal is in keeping with pro-gun control stance, but it also plays well to his core Democratic constituency in the Chicago area. Yet it cuts against the governor in the vast majority of counties that voted against him throughout the state when he was elected in 2010.
Quinn already is facing new political challenges as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a longtime gun control advocate, came out today in favor of Quinn’s potential Democratic challenger, Bill Daley, the former White House chief of staff whose brother and father both served as mayors of Chicago.
But the governor did not attempt this time to stick into the measure a ban on semi-automatic assault weapons despite his support of such a proposal. He tried that last year on a lower-profile gun bill and lawmakers ignored him.
Proponents of the legislation as passed, ranging from House Speaker Michael Madigan of Chicago to sponsoring Rep. Brandon Phelps of Southern Illinois, have predicted Quinn would use his amendatory veto power to rewrite the bill, but both have also predicted the governor’s changes would be overridden.
Rank-and-file lawmakers have been told to be ready to return to Springfield on July 8, the day before the deadline. It is one day before Quinn has set a separate deadline for the legislature to come up with a proposal to resolve the state’s $100 billion pension debt, but there’s little sign of that coming to together by then.
Copyright © 2013 Chicago Tribune Company, LLC
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/clout/chi-quinn-writes-stricter-rules-into-concealed-carry-bill-20130702,0,7934500.story
By Ray Long and Monique Garcia Clout Street
2:01 p.m. CDT, July 2, 2013
Gov. Pat Quinn today inserted stricter gun control measures into a high-profile concealed carry bill, sending back the carefully crafted measure to lawmakers who are wary of any changes.
According to the governor's veto message, Quinn moved to ban guns from all places that serve alcohol, allow people with permits to carry only one concealed weapon that can hold only 10 rounds of ammunition, required guns to be completely concealed instead of partially, give employers more rights to regulate guns in their businesses, and removed a provision to prevent home-rule towns from enacting assault weapons bans.
"I have carefully reviewed every part of this legislation. This is a flawed bill with serious safety problems that must be addressed," Quinn wrote in his veto message. "Therefore, I am compelled to use my constitutional authority to rectify several specific issues, to establish a better law to protect the people of Illinois."
While the Democratic governor is within his powers to recommend changes for lawmakers to accept or reject, Quinn’s move also raises the possibility that the General Assembly could fail to agree on either option and leave Illinois with a wide-open gun law that even sponsors of the concealed carry law have sought to avoid.
The pressure now is on lawmakers to act before a July 9 deadline that a federal appellate court gave Illinois to put in place a law allowing people to carry concealed firearms. The ruled in December that Illinois must end its status as the only state in the nation with a ban on allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons in public.
Sponsoring Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg, already has filed a motion to override the governor's changes.
"A deal is a deal, we had a compromise. It's too short of a notice now to go back on this. As you know, a week away is the deadline. These are things that if the governor was really serious about it, he would have had a member of the General Assembly running a trailer bill to make changes."
Phelps said Quinn went beyond the "scope of the constitution" in his rewrite, saying the limit on magazines is an issue separate from concealed carry.
"This is a whole rewrite," Phelps said. "He is nothing more than politically pandering to Chicago. He won (four) counties last time round, and one of them was Cook County and he's pandering to them."
Specifically, Quinn recommended that citizens be allowed to carry only one concealed weapon that can carry only 10 rounds of ammunition — a major change from the current lack of limits in the legislation.
"The bill provides no cap on the number of guns or on the size or number of ammunition clips that may be carried. Instead, it allows individuals to legally carry multiple guns with unlimited rounds of ammunition, which is a public safety hazard,” Quinn wrote in a message to lawmakers.
“Recent shootings, such as the horrific tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, where a gunman fired 154 bullets in less than five minutes, have put a spotlight on the extreme and unnecessary danger posed by high-capacity ammunition magazines,” Quinn wrote.
“If Illinois is going to legalize the carrying of loaded, concealed guns, our state should do so with common sense and a commitment to preventing mass violence,” according to a copy of the message. “The legislation should clarify that a license will permit an individual to carry one concealed gun and one ammunition clip that can hold no more than 10 rounds of ammunition,” Quinn said.
Quinn recommended that concealed weapons not be allowed in places where there is any alcoholic-beverages served. The bill call for allowing it where the majority of sales were from food. He disagreed with limits placed on home-rule communities that may wish to have tougher gun laws. He sought to tighten employer rights to regulate firearms.
The Illinois State Rifle Association ripped Quinn, saying he is severely restricting how and where citizens may carry firearms. The group predicted an override.
"Self defense isn't some sort of carnival game where the house stacks the odds against the good guy," ISRA Executive Director Richard Pearson said in a statement. "We're talking about defending the lives of everyday Illinoisans here. The new restrictions appearing in Quinn's amendatory veto encumber good citizens to the point where carrying concealed becomes pointless – which is exactly the intention of the governor and his friends in the gun control movement. "
Seeking re-election in 2014, Quinn’s move to tighten the proposal is in keeping with pro-gun control stance, but it also plays well to his core Democratic constituency in the Chicago area. Yet it cuts against the governor in the vast majority of counties that voted against him throughout the state when he was elected in 2010.
Quinn already is facing new political challenges as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a longtime gun control advocate, came out today in favor of Quinn’s potential Democratic challenger, Bill Daley, the former White House chief of staff whose brother and father both served as mayors of Chicago.
But the governor did not attempt this time to stick into the measure a ban on semi-automatic assault weapons despite his support of such a proposal. He tried that last year on a lower-profile gun bill and lawmakers ignored him.
Proponents of the legislation as passed, ranging from House Speaker Michael Madigan of Chicago to sponsoring Rep. Brandon Phelps of Southern Illinois, have predicted Quinn would use his amendatory veto power to rewrite the bill, but both have also predicted the governor’s changes would be overridden.
Rank-and-file lawmakers have been told to be ready to return to Springfield on July 8, the day before the deadline. It is one day before Quinn has set a separate deadline for the legislature to come up with a proposal to resolve the state’s $100 billion pension debt, but there’s little sign of that coming to together by then.
Copyright © 2013 Chicago Tribune Company, LLC