House panel OKs gun transit bill
Municipalities would no longer take precedence over state law
By BRIAN MACKEY
STATE CAPITOL BUREAU
Illinois lawmakers are seeing to it that people driving their guns around Illinois would no longer have to worry about the patchwork of municipal rules that vary from city to city.
Senate Bill 2104 would overrule municipalities that regulate the transportation of firearms more strictly than the state. It sailed through the House Agriculture and Conservation Committee on Tuesday.
National Rifle Association lobbyist Todd Vandermyde told the committee that state law allows firearms to be transported in one of three ways: unloaded and in a closed case, not immediately accessible, or broken down into a non-functioning state.
Some municipalities, Vandermyde said, have ordinances that allow police to immediately seize a vehicle if a firearm is anywhere in a passenger compartment or is not broken down, essentially overriding the state law that allows a gun to be transported anywhere in a vehicle as long as it is unloaded and in a case.
"A person from downstate, a person from the suburbs, a person from another part of the state could be driving by, (be) pulled over on a traffic stop and then have their vehicle impounded simply because they were following state law," Vandermyde said.
He later admitted he was "not aware of any cases" in which that had happened.
Bill Thanoukos, a lobbyist for the city of Chicago, disagreed with the NRA spokesman and said the state law is too lax for some cities.
"The way the law currently is written, it's very easy for someone to be carrying a gun in ... the front seat of their car, and it may be unloaded and in a case, but it's very easy for them to just grab it, load it, and they're ready to fire it," Thanoukos said.
Opponents of the legislation include the Illinois State Police, the Illinois Municipal League, the Cook County state's attorney and the city of Chicago.
SB2104, sponsored in the House by Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Norris City, passed the Senate earlier this month on a bipartisan vote of 34-25.
The legislation now goes to the full House.
Brian Mackey can be reached at 782-6883 or
[email protected]
