HR0656 LRB093 19633 RLC 45374 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, Assault weapons are military-style guns designed
3 and manufactured for the sole purpose of killing the largest
4 number of people in the shortest amount of time possible; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Military-style assault weapons are the guns of
6 choice for criminals, enabling them to commit some of America's
7 deadliest crimes, including the 1989 Stockton, California
8 schoolyard shooting, the 1999 massacre at Columbine High
9 School, and the 2002 DC-area sniper attacks; and
 
10     WHEREAS, Military-style assault weapons threaten the
11 safety of America's law enforcement officers, having been used
12 to kill one in five officers slain in the line of duty between
13 1998 and 2001, according to FBI statistics; and
 
14     WHEREAS, International terrorist organizations urge their
15 recruits to exploit America's lax gun laws and arm themselves
16 with military-style assault weapons; and
 
17     WHEREAS, The United States Congress in 1994, recognizing
18 the grave threat to public safety posed by the continued
19 availability to civilians of military-style assault weapons,
20 banned the manufacture and sale of specific models of assault
21 weapons; and
 
22     WHEREAS, Since 1994 many gun manufacturers have ignored the
23 spirit of the law by manufacturing "copycat" guns nearly
24 identical to those banned but for minor cosmetic changes; and
 
25     WHEREAS, The federal ban on military-style assault
26 weapons, which was enacted on September 13, 1994, contained a
27 sunset provision providing for the automatic repeal of the ban
28 ten years following that date, or September 13, 2004; and
 

 

 

HR0656 - 2 - LRB093 19633 RLC 45374 r

1     WHEREAS, As a result of the 1994 assault weapons ban,
2 domestic manufacturers are prohibited from manufacturing or
3 selling new high capacity magazines (except for a limited
4 number of magazines for police, military, and nuclear plant
5 protection use); and
 
6     WHEREAS, The 1994 high capacity magazine ban did not apply
7 to foreign magazines, and between September of 1994 and
8 December of 2000, 47.3 million large magazines were approved
9 for importation for civilian use, from 50 different countries;
10 and
 
11     WHEREAS, The federal ban does not affect firearms designed
12 for hunting or other legitimate sporting uses; and
 
13     WHEREAS, The federal courts and U.S. Attorney General John
14 Ashcroft have declared the federal assault weapons ban to be
15 constitutional and in no way an infringement on the Second
16 Amendment; and
 
17     WHEREAS, Military-style assault weapons should be
18 completely and permanently eliminated from our streets and our
19 communities; therefore, be it
 
20     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
21 NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
22 the House urges the United States Congress and the President of
23 the United States to renew and strengthen the federal ban on
24 military-style assault weapons, closing the loopholes that
25 have allowed gun manufacturers to continue to design,
26 manufacture, market and sell to civilians military-style
27 assault weapons; and be it further
 
28     RESOLVED, That assault weapon ban reauthorization contain
29 a large capacity ammunition magazine import ban consistent with
30 the domestic ban on large capacity ammunition magazines.