Connor: Legislative Action Necessary to Strengthen, Reinforce Public Safety

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – In an effort to move the needle on school and community safety across the state, state Rep. John Connor, D-Lockport, voted to pass a series of commonsense gun safety measures from the House with bipartisan support on Wednesday.

“As a former criminal prosecutor, I understand the devastating consequences that deadly weapons have when in the hands of the wrong people. I have seen firsthand how lives and entire families are shattered because of a single bullet,” Connor said. “This week in Springfield, the legislature took meaningful steps towards putting in place some commonsense safety measures, like banning “bump stocks” that were used in the Las Vegas massacre to transform firearms into automatic weapons and raising the age to buy an assault weapon from eighteen to twenty-one.”

Connor joined Democratic and Republican members of the House in passing legislation to raise the legal age to purchase assault weapons from eighteen to twenty-one, establish new gun dealer licensing requirements to crack down on gun dealers, ban “bump stocks” and trigger cranks that turn semiautomatic weapons into automatic weapons capable of shooting hundreds of bullets a minute, and extending the “cooling off” waiting period for purchasing assault-style weapons from 24 hours to 72 hours, the same waiting period for handgun sales.

“These are commonsense, reasonable gun safety measures that will help to keep deadly firearms out of the hands of criminals, the mentally ill, and those who may be a threat to themselves or others,” said Connor. “No legislation alone will prevent all acts of gun violence, and I will continue to work with my colleagues in the legislature as well as members of my community to promote gun safety and combat the senseless violence in communities throughout Illinois.  We can’t afford to stand still on these issues.”