Illinois bill banning ‘easily convertible’ handguns could pass this session

By Greg Bishop | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – An Illinois measure to prohibit the sale and manufacture of handguns some legislators say are “easily convertible” from semi-automatic to full-auto could be approved before the end of the month.

House Bill 4471 wouldn’t ban the possession of such handguns, but would prohibit them from being sold, transferred or manufactured.

State Rep. Patrick Windhorst, R-Metropolis, warned legislators of the taxpayer cost of passing measures later challenged in the courts on constitutional grounds.

“I think there are serious issues with the Second Amendment and with the Commerce Clause of the Constitution that will cause this bill to be ultimately found unconstitutional, which will mean we will spend dollars through the Attorney General’s office of trying to defend a law that, as was pointed out in other comments, is unnecessary,” Windhorst said during a news conference Thursday.

House Bill 4471 would ban the sale and manufacture of certain handguns defined as “easily convertible” with a cheap device called a switch. Switches are already illegal.

State Rep. Justin Slaughter, D-Chicago, sponsored the bill.

“We can’t say with certainty that initiatives like this will stop criminals from committing crimes, but we must do all that we can to minimize the harmful impact of fully automatic machine guns,” Slaughter said during a committee hearing Wednesday.

The underlying measure had more than 600 people file in support of the bill. More than 4,200 filed witness slips in opposition.

State Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer, R-Murrayville, urged legislators to take a different approach.

“I think everybody sitting at this table wants to get rid of gun violence,” Davidsmeyer said. “But the problem that we’re having right now is that we need crime control, not gun control.”

He asked what Democrats are doing about crime.

Slaughter said they have the Reimagine Public Safety Act passed several years ago.

“It’s not just looking at crime. We’re actually getting to the root causes of crime,” he said.

Legislators have until May 31 to pass bills for an immediate effective date with simple majorities.