WATCH: Gun owners rally at Illinois Statehouse against more gun regulations

By Greg Bishop | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Illinois gun owners are pressing their legislators to oppose gun regulations and some elected officials are on their side.

Illinois Gun Owner Lobby Day started at a convention center in Springfield Wednesday to hear from gun rights advocates. Afterwards, hundreds of gun owners marched through the streets to the Capitol. They were met by Republican legislators who left floor session to address the crowd.

State Rep. Blaine Wilhour, R-Beecher City, told the assembled group that free people don’t ask permission to stay free.

“Government becomes more and more powerful every day when good citizens comply with things that are unconstitutional, and when they defy our constitutional rights, we will not comply,” Wilhour told the crowd. “Am I right?”

Other Republicans said the fight for freedom never ends.

State Rep. Amy Elik, R-Alton, said the measures being proposed by Democrats don’t go after criminals, they target legal gun owners.

“They are coming for your guns,” Elik said. “It seems like an annual occurrence. The Democrats pass an unconstitutional gun bill. The governor signs it. The taxpayers have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars litigating it. And it goes to the Supreme Court.”

Elik said they will “fight them every step of the way.”

Several bills being proposed at the statehouse include one to ban certain semi-automatic handguns that can be converted to full-auto. Supporters of that measure say it’s meant to nudge the gun industry toward making firearms that can not be easily converted.

Another measure would charge a fee to gun sellers and manufacturers. Supporters say they are working to bring down the rate of gun violence and raise revenue for violence prevention efforts.

Legislators are in session until May 31.