By Peter Hancock A temporary restraining order that partially blocks Illinois’ new assault weapons ban from being enforced will remain in place after a divided State appellate court panel’s ruling Tuesday, Jan. 31. The restraining order was issued Jan. 20 by Effingham County Circuit Judge Joshua Morrison, but it applies...
By Peter Hancock Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Monday filed a petition asking an appellate court to vacate a temporary restraining order that was issued late Friday Jan. 20 to block enforcement of the State’s recently-passed assault weapons ban. Raoul’s office filed the petition in the 5th District Appellate Court...
By Hannah Meisel A trio of gun owners and a firearms retailer in southeastern Illinois have filed the first two lawsuits in what’s expected to be a flurry of litigation against the State’s new law banning the sale and manufacture of assault weapons in Illinois. Democratic Party leaders who pushed...
Tuesday, Jan. 17, 16 DuPage-area State legislators who represent the vast majority of the County in the General Assembly released an open letter to the public in response concerns raised by residents following the DuPage County Sheriff’s pronouncement that he would not enforce the Protect Illinois Communities Act, which was...
By Peter Hancock On the first full day of his second term, governor JB Pritzker Tuesday, Jan. 10 signed a bill banning the sale, distribution, and manufacture, of high-power assault weapons, .50 caliber rifles and ammunition, and large-capacity magazines, while still allowing those who already own such weapons to keep...
By Peter Hancock Some of the State’s leading law enforcement officials Tuesday, Dec. 20 urged lawmakers to pass a statewide ban on high-power, high-capacity, weapons, which they say are growing in prevalence in Illinois. “What the public asks members of the law enforcement community to do each and every day...
By Peter Hancock Victims and survivors of multiple mass shootings urged State lawmakers Monday, Dec. 12 to pass a ban on assault weapons, arguing that communities throughout Illinois have felt the pain of deadly mass shootings. “I was shot multiple times on the Fourth of July in Highland Park,” Lauren...
July 30, 2022Dear editor; Once again The Voice published letters filled with emotional blathering. This time regarding gun control. There’s a solid solution which would end all such gun control debate. The following facts clearly point to the problem and the solution: • International statistics show the USA is third...
In the wake of the Fourth of July mass shooting in Highland Park, State representative Maura Hirschauer, D-Batavia, and other State lawmakers from Illinois, California, New York, and Delaware met with senior White House officials on efforts to prevent gun violence and hold gun manufacturers accountable for their role in...
The U.S. Congress finally passed a bipartisan gun-control bill and president Joe Biden signed it after a hiatus of 30 years and hundreds of mass shootings. The provisions of the new law, however, are soft; that is to say, they tinker around the fringes of the issue and do not...
By Peter Hancock The Illinois State Police (ISP) announced Monday it will start using a broader definition of what constitutes a “clear and present danger” when reviewing a person’s Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card. That’s a factor ISP considers when deciding whether to grant someone a FOID card or to...
By Peter Hancock In the wake of a July 4 mass shooting in Highland Park that left seven persons dead and dozens more injured, governor JB Pritzker is calling for a ban at both the State and national levels on military-style assault rifles and high-capacity magazines. The governor made those...
July 6, 2022Dear editor; Ho hum, another mass shooting, only this time a little closer to home. The weapon used? Yup, you guessed it… an assault-style rifle, capable of belching out 30 rounds of human-obliterating ammo per clip. The shooter in Highland Park, Ill.? A young, white, male who legally...
Many news items create overlapping thoughts and at the same time stimulate connected thinking. The U.S. Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights on the citizens’ rights to bear arms is a prime example. Political implications continually are connected to assertion of the Second Amendment. One question asked Tuesday this...
May 26, 2021Dear editor; I have been thinking about gun rights in the United States and see that we have grown out of many of the needs for arms. Today, instead of the majority of the population needing guns to secure food, we have turned them on each other. I...
By John W. Whitehead “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” – The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution We never learn. In the right (or wrong) hands, benevolent plans...
