Assault weapon bill beyond absurd

Assault weapon bill beyond absurd

In your Jan. 4 article, “Gun control proposals on hold,” writer Doug Graham refers to the proposed “ban on all semiautomatic assault weapons, which includes some types of handguns, rifles, and shotguns.” (HB 1263 and to a lesser extent HB 815.)

Mr. Graham didn’t quite tell the whole story. HB1263, as amended, would ban almost all semiautomatic weapons. (Just to be clear, semi-auto means “one trigger pull, one shot fired,” not “fully automatic.”) It would ban many popular hunting rifles, even some .22 caliber squirrel rifles. To label a .22 an “assault weapon” is absurd and laughable.

This bill would ban as much as 80 percent of handguns commonly in use, from Glocks to the classic Colt 1911. Because it bans anything with a detachable magazine, basically all handguns except revolvers would be banned.

Make no mistake — this would arguably be the biggest, most comprehensive and restrictive gun ban in modern U.S. history — all in the wake of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals telling Illinois that its gun laws were already too restrictive.

I encourage all readers to call their state senators and state representatives and tell them to oppose ridiculous “assault weapons bans” that take legal firearms away from law-abiding citizens.

Tyler Benjamin

West Chicago