Illinois, ruled as it is by the political power of Chicago, is not a state that comes immediately to mind as being "pro gun." The last state in the union to permit any form of concealed carry, and even then needing to be dragged kicking and screaming into doing so by the federal courts, and still ending up with the most restrictive "shall issue" permitting system in the country, Illinois ensures that advances for the recognition of gun rights are always hard won.
That being the case, one might not intuitively expect Illinois' longstanding outright ban of privately owned suppressors ("silencers," in common, if imprecise, parlance), over and above the already onerous federal regulation of them under the National Firearms Act of 1934, to face any danger of being overturned. But that's precisely what just may happen this year. Illinois HB 433/SB 803, identical bills introduced by Democrats, would permit the use of suppressors for hunting.
There will, of course, be opposition. The Belleville News-Democrat reports:
Mark Walsh, campaign director for the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, said Illinois has about 1,000 deaths annually from gunshots, including homicides and suicides.
“Adding silencers to that mix, I think is a bad policy,” Walsh said. “It’s a bill that we would be opposed to.”
Note the lack of any explanation as to how legal suppressors would increase the number of shooting deaths. The Brady Campaign is similarly unhappy:
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