Wednesday is Illinois Gun Owner Lobby Day at the Capitol in Springfield. Hundreds of IGOLD members are in town to lobby members of the General Assembly concerning gun owner rights.
In connection with the event, Illinois House Republicans held a capitol press conference to discuss their efforts to protect the Second Amendment and law-abiding gun owners in Illinois.
State Representative Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis) said since he first took office in 2019, he has worked diligently alongside his fellow Republicans in the House to protect 2nd amendment rights for law abiding citizens.
The people I represent take their responsibility to care for, store, and use their firearms very seriously. Sadly, that fact is often ignored as the supermajority in both chambers of this General Assembly have time and again passed legislation that erodes the Constitutional right to bear arms.
In being more specific in his criticism of the Dem policies, Windhorst pointed to a broken FOID card system.
First, Illinois’ FOID card system imposes a state level barrier to firearm ownership, which turns what would be a federally guaranteed Constitutional right into merely a privilege paid for by gunowners and regulated by our state. In previous General Assemblies, I’ve sponsored legislation that would eliminate the FOID card and restore gun ownership as a guaranteed right under the Constitution.
Windhorst said despite many early federal rulings and injunctions against several Illinois gun laws, members of the Democrat side of the aisle continue to push further restrictions on gun ownership, restrictions that hurt only our law-abiding citizens.
The former Massac County State’s Attorney said that laws that go beyond the federal firearm restrictions make for a confusing patchwork of laws that stand in direct conflict with the U.S constitution.
