A state senator told a gun owner at a town hall that maybe she wouldn’t fine him for his guns, instead, she could just confiscate them.
Illinois State Senator Julie Morrison was at the meeting to speak with gun owners about her co-sponsored Bill 107, which would ban most semi-automatic firearm and accessory sales, when the Illinois State Rifle Association and other gun owners voiced their opposition.
Watch the exchange below:
Those who already own the banned guns under the bill would have to pay a $25 fee per firearm and register their assault weapons and if they don’t it would be a felony.
Vice president of the Illinois State Rifle Association Mike Weisman, who was in attendance, said, “Senator Morrison, you have a Senate Bill 107 to take away my semi-automatic firearms. That bans them.”
“To clarify, I’m not really taking your gun away from you; you just can’t buy any new ones,” Morrison said in the video.
Weisman asked her, “You want me to turn them over to the state police 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 — then, how dangerous is it in the first place and why do you need to ban it all? Why do you need to try to ban my semi-automatic firearm?”
The crowd applauded, but once there was silence, Morrison jeered, “Well, you just maybe changed my mind. Maybe we won’t have a fine at all, maybe it’ll just be a confiscation and we won’t have to worry about paying the fine.”
Weisman argued that he already purchased his firearms legally, he should not be subjected to a fine in order to legally keep them. However, Morrison insisted it’s simply a “registration fee.”
According to the Illinois General Assembly, “Bill 107 amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Makes it unlawful for any person to knowingly possess an assault weapon 300 days after the effective date of the amendatory Act, except possession of weapons registered with the Department of State Police in the time provided. Provides exemptions and penalties. Effective immediately.”
The National Rifle Association said, “Senate Bill 107, sponsored by Senator Julie Morrison (D-29), would brand many modern semi-automatic rifles, semi-automatic handguns, and shotguns commonly owned by law-abiding citizens as ‘assault weapons’ and ban them along with spare parts and accessories.”
The NRA added, “SB 107 would have limited exemptions, such as allowing those who lawfully own banned firearms prior to register and keep them. This exemption would not extend to banned parts and accessories, so owners would not be able to keep spare parts and accessories to reconfigure their firearms for different uses.”
