Moylan Fighting for Commonsense Gun Reform Measures

DES PLAINES, Ill. – Following the U.S. House of Representatives vote to repeal safeguards that prevent individuals who are suffering from severe mental illnesses from purchasing firearms, state Rep. Marty Moylan, D-Des Plaines, is pushing for the passage of rationale gun reform measures here in Illinois.

“As a father and grandfather, one of the most important things to me is making sure we have safe communities,” Moylan said. “Congress’ recent decision to allow severely mentally ill persons to purchase guns is extremely disturbing and puts our families at risk.”

The U.S. House of Representatives voted last week to repeal a measure that required the Social Security Administration to release information about individuals suffering from severe mental illnesses to the national gun background check system. Moylan believes this decision is shortsighted and that steps must be taken here in Illinois to prevent firearms from falling into the wrong hands.

Moylan is sponsoring a package of gun control reform measures to strengthen Illinois’ Firearm Owner’s Identification Card and to prevent potentially dangerous individuals from purchasing firearms. House Bill 745 would require individuals applying for a FOID card to also submit a set of fingerprints. These fingerprints would then be run against the criminal history database of both Illinois State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Moylan’s House Bill 504 would prevent residents on the national Terrorist Watch list from obtaining a FOID card and revoke existing FOID cards of suspected terrorists.

“More must be done to prevent criminals, the mentally ill, and suspected terrorists from gaining access to dangerous firearms,” Moylan said. “My commonsense reforms will help prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands and will make our communities a safer place to live and work in.”

For more information, please contact Moylan’s full-time constituent service office at 847-635-6821 or email staterepmoylan@gmail.com.