Gun Control
League of Women Voters of Illinois
Gun Control
Position-in-Brief
The League supports legislative controls to stop
the proliferation of private ownership of handguns and their
irresponsible use. The League advocates restricting access to
semi-automatic assault type weapons.
The League believes that the proliferation of the private ownership
of handguns and their irresponsible use must be controlled through
legislation. The League, therefore, supports a ban on the further
manufacture, sale, transportation and importation for private ownership
of handguns and their parts. There should be a clear statutory
definition of "Saturday Night Specials" which would make their
regulation enforceable. The League supports restrictive regulation of
all handguns and ammunition, enforcement of existing regulations at all
levels of government, strict penalties for handgun crimes and better
regulation of handgun dealers.
Handgun owners must assume complete responsibility for their
handguns. To this end, the League supports registration of the handgun
itself which will allow it to be traced to its owner. There should be
comprehensive licensing procedures, with gun safety education,
fingerprinting, photographs, plus a verification of the applicant's
qualifications and a permit system that restricts handgun ownership. The
cost of these programs should be borne by fees paid by the handgun owner
sufficient to cover a careful system which ideally would be administered
locally under federal guidelines. The sale of ammunition should also be
regulated.
There should be additional penalties and strict enforcement for all
crimes committed with a handgun. All dealers selling handguns must be
carefully regulated to assure that they are legitimate dealers and not
merely persons wishing to have access to interstate shipments. The
League recommends high fees, annual renewal of licenses and a thorough
investigation of dealers and their places of business. The League
supports the need for further controls or elimination of mail order
sales and interstate shipments.
The League supports handgun safety education only if it is required
for owners as part of the licensing procedure, does not promote or
glorify handgun usage or ownership, and is used to convey the dangers of
handgun misuse and ownership.
The League favors federal legislation governing the use of handguns
but will support state legislation meeting League criteria. The League
will not support state or federal legislation for specific areas only,
such as metropolitan or high crime areas.
The League advocates restricting access to semi-automatic assault
type weapons. These weapons present a clear and unequivocal danger to
public safety. Therefore, the League believes that it is essential to
restrict or prohibit the possession and sale, manufacture, importation
and transportation of semi-automatic assault type weapons for private
ownership. Additionally, the sale of ammunition for these weapons should
be restricted or prohibited. The League favors restrictive legislation
at both the state and federal levels.
Background
The position on handgun control was reached in
1976 after a statewide study. The assault-type weapons position was
adopted by the 1989 State Convention. LWVIL led the successful effort to
adopt a national gun control position on the floor of the 1990 LWVUS
Convention.
Action
The League has actively supported legislation to
increase controls on handguns, restrict or prohibit access to
semi-automatic assault weapons and require gun owners to keep their
firearms secured from children. After the 1990 national position was
adopted, LWVIL continued its lobbying efforts in Congress for the Brady
Bill.