By: Teresa Mull
An Illinois lawmaker, asked how paying a fine and registering a firearm would make it less dangerous, told a constituent that, on second-thought, fines are pointless, “Maybe it’ll just be confiscation…”
The incident happened at a townhall meeting in Deerfield, Illinois, hosted by State Sen. Julie Morrison and State Rep. Bob Morgan, both Democrats. According to the NRA, members of the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) – the NRA’s state affiliate – were encouraged to ask Morrison about her sponsorship of SB107.
The NRA explains:
The bill would have branded many modern semi-automatic rifles, semi-automatic handguns, and shotguns commonly owned by law-abiding citizens as “assault weapons” and banned them along with spare parts and accessories. The legislation permitted current owners to continue to possess these firearms if the owner registered the firearm with the state and paid a $25 fee for each gun.
A man in the audience asked Morrison,
"If I get to keep it if I pay a fine and register it, how dangerous is it in the first place and why do you need to ban it at all? Why do you need to try to ban my semi-automatic firearms?”
to which Morrison replied:
"Well you’ve just maybe changed my mind. Maybe we won’t have a fine at all. Maybe it’ll just be confiscation and we won’t have to worry about paying a fine."
The exchange was captures on video by an ISRA member. It can be viewed below.
Teresa Mull is editor of Gunpowder Magazine. Contact her at [email protected].