Nearly two dozen protesters gathered outside of House Speaker Michael Madigan’s office Monday to protest his support for the proposed concealed carry law.
The Illinois House approved the plan Friday, but the governor and other powerful democrats oppose the plan because it would wipe out local gun ordinances- including Chicago’s ban on assault weapons.
The proposal was brokered by Madigan, a Chicago Democrat, as a way to abide by a federal appeals court’s ruling that ordered the state to adopt a concealed-carry law by June 9. But the plan drew swift opposition after it was unveiled this week, with Gov. Quinn’s office calling it a “massive overreach” because of the way it would curb local firearms regulations.
Post Newtown grassroots organizations partnered with established anti-gun violence advocates joined the opposition Monday and lobbied for common sense gun laws to “reduce the epidemic of gun violence in Illinois.”
"All the gun safety legislation that municipalities have put in place would be overturned," said Denyse Wang Stoneback, founder of People for a Safer Society. "This is a tragedy."
Many protesters said the approval of a concealed carry plan may be inevitable, but, like Quinn, they said the proposed legislation would jeopardize public safety.
“It is not normal to carry a gun wherever you go,” said gun control advocate Bill Jenkins. “If we’re going to have concealed carry it better be one of the most difficult things that can be enacted because getting a gun should be one of the hardest things someone should have to do.”
