Quinn picks up endorsement of anti-gun group

A national gun-control group's Tuesday endorsement of Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn highlighted differences between him and his Republican opponent on a key issue in the race for Illinois governor.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence praised Quinn for favoring tougher gun restrictions than his Republican opponent, state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington.

"His opponent, on the other hand, is someone who is taking the attitude that more guns in more places is somehow going to make us safer. That makes no sense at all," said Paul Helmke, head of the group founded by President Ronald Reagan's former press secretary, Jim Brady, who was seriously wounded in 1981 by a gunman who tried to assassinate the president.

Quinn and Bill Brady differ significantly on two key issues in the gun-control debate: the right to carry a concealed handgun and the sale and possession of semiautomatic weapons.

Quinn has said he would veto legislation that allowed people to carry concealed handguns or permitted the sale and possession of semiautomatic assault-style weapons.

Brady has said he would sign legislation making it legal for people to carry a concealed handgun and would veto a measure that banned the sale and possession of semiautomatic weapons. His spokeswoman Patty Schuh said semiautomatics can include certain hunting rifles and shotguns and some of those firearms are manufactured in Illinois and contribute jobs to the state's economy.

"Bill Brady's record is consistent with those who support the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution," Schuh said.

A federal ban on some semiautomatic assault weapons expired in 2004.

Quinn said Tuesday he believes in the Constitution's Second Amendment but wants guns out of the hands of people who shouldn't have them, including gang members.

"We need to have a governor who's willing to sign laws that put restrictions on assault weapons that are used right now by gang-bangers to terrorize law-abiding, honest, hardworking people," said Quinn, who was surrounded by people whose relatives had been shot and killed.

Gun control has been a high-profile subject in Chicago after a spate of summer shootings that included three police officers being gunned down since May, one with his own weapon.

Also, the U.S. Supreme Court recently made Chicago's handgun ban unenforceable and the city scrambled to pass an ordinance allowing residents to own handguns but with heavy restrictions.

While Quinn's campaign likes to point to a handful of Brady "no" votes on gun bills, Brady's camp counters with bills they say he has supported to toughen gun measures.

When he has voted no, it's often because there were onerous provisions on lawful gun owners, Schuh said.

For example, Quinn's campaign says the downstate lawmaker voted against a bill that related in part to "straw" purchases of guns, which is when someone who can legally buy a gun does so and then gives it to someone who can't legally buy it.

Schuh said that bill, which didn't pass, included provisions that tried to limit the number of guns a person could buy or sell each month.

Brady doesn't support so-called straw purchases and has backed legislation cracking down on them, Schuh said.

The Green Party's Rich Whitney, who also is running for governor, has said he would sign legislation allowing Illinois residents to carry concealed handguns, although he would like counties to have the chance to opt out. He also says he would sign legislation banning the sale and possession of semiautomatic assault-style weapons in Illinois if it doesn't infringe on the rights of law-abiding citizens to have firearms to defend themselves.