Illinois state Senator Julie Morrison is the sponsor of Senate Bill 107. The bill would ban most semi-automatic firearm and accessory sales. Current owners of the banned guns would be required to pay a fee and register their so-called assault weapons. The fee would be $25 per firearm and failure to register them would be a felony.
In a recent town hall meeting with Morrison, Mike Weisman, vice president of the Illinois State Rifle Association was in the audience. When Weisman asked Morrison why paying a “fine” to register a firearm is necessary, she allowed as how maybe it would just be simpler if the state just grabs all of the scary guns her bill would outlaw.
Constituent: You have a SB107 to take away my semi-automatic firearms.
State Senator Julie Morrison: To clarify, I’m not taking your gun away from you. You just can’t buy any new ones.
Constituent: You want me to turn it over to the state police.
Sen. Morrison: You can’t buy new ones.
Constituent: Unless I give you a fine. Unless I pay a fine for each firearm and register them, then I get to keep them. So, if I get to keep it, if I pay a fine and register it, how dangerous is it in the first place? Why do you need to pay it at all?
Sen. Morrison: Well, you’ve just maybe changed my mind. Maybe we won’t have a fine at all. Maybe we’ll just be a confiscation and we won’t have to worry about you paying the fine.
