Full Text of SR0402 93rd General Assembly
SR0402 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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SR0402 |
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LRB093 18278 RLC 43981 r |
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| SENATE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, Assault weapons are military-style guns designed | 3 |
| and manufactured for the sole purpose of killing the largest | 4 |
| number of people in the shortest amount of time possible; and
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| WHEREAS, Military-style assault weapons are the guns of | 6 |
| choice for criminals, enabling them to commit some of America's | 7 |
| deadliest crimes, including the 1989 Stockton, California | 8 |
| schoolyard shooting, the 1999 massacre at Columbine High | 9 |
| School, and the 2002 DC-area sniper attacks; and | 10 |
| WHEREAS, Military-style assault weapons threaten the | 11 |
| safety of America's law enforcement officers, having been used | 12 |
| to kill one in five officers slain in the line of duty between | 13 |
| 1998 and 2001, according to FBI statistics; and | 14 |
| WHEREAS, International terrorist organizations urge their | 15 |
| recruits to exploit America's lax gun laws and arm themselves | 16 |
| with military-style assault weapons; and | 17 |
| WHEREAS, The United States Congress in 1994, recognizing | 18 |
| the grave threat to public safety posed by the continued | 19 |
| availability to civilians of military-style assault weapons, | 20 |
| banned the manufacture and sale of specific models of assault | 21 |
| weapons; and | 22 |
| WHEREAS, Since 1994 many gun manufacturers have ignored the | 23 |
| spirit of the law by manufacturing "copycat" guns nearly | 24 |
| identical to those banned but for minor cosmetic changes; and | 25 |
| WHEREAS, The federal ban on military-style assault | 26 |
| weapons, which was enacted on September 13, 1994, contained a | 27 |
| sunset provision providing for the automatic repeal of the ban | 28 |
| ten years following that date, or September 13, 2004; and |
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SR0402 |
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LRB093 18278 RLC 43981 r |
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| WHEREAS, As a result of the 1994 assault weapons ban, | 2 |
| domestic manufacturers are prohibited from manufacturing or | 3 |
| selling new high capacity magazines (except for a limited | 4 |
| number of magazines for police, military, and nuclear plant | 5 |
| protection use); and | 6 |
| WHEREAS, The 1994 high capacity magazine ban did not apply | 7 |
| to foreign magazines, and between September of 1994 and | 8 |
| December of 2000, 47.3 million large magazines were approved | 9 |
| for importation for civilian use, from 50 different countries; | 10 |
| and | 11 |
| WHEREAS, The federal ban does not affect firearms designed | 12 |
| for hunting or other legitimate sporting uses; and | 13 |
| WHEREAS, The federal courts and U.S. Attorney General John | 14 |
| Ashcroft have declared the federal assault weapons ban to be | 15 |
| constitutional and in no way an infringement on the Second | 16 |
| Amendment; and | 17 |
| WHEREAS, Military-style assault weapons should be | 18 |
| completely and permanently eliminated from our streets and our | 19 |
| communities; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-THIRD GENERAL | 21 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the Senate urges the | 22 |
| United States Congress and the President of the United States | 23 |
| to renew and strengthen the federal ban on military-style | 24 |
| assault weapons, closing the loopholes that have allowed gun | 25 |
| manufacturers to continue to design, manufacture, market and | 26 |
| sell to civilians military-style assault weapons; and be it | 27 |
| further
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| RESOLVED, That assault weapon ban reauthorization contain | 29 |
| a large capacity ammunition magazine import ban consistent with | 30 |
| the domestic ban on large capacity ammunition magazines.
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