SPRINGFIELD, Ill.- The Illinois Judiciary-Criminal Committee approved a new bill that could establish a firearm violence prevention and reduction study.
could require the Department of Public Health to conduct an annual research study. Experts would focus on gun violence trends across Illinois communities. Sponsor Sonya Harper (D-Chicago) explained this research would be something new for the state.
“There is nowhere on record that the state of Illinois has ever studied this issue, or has ever implemented anything to help gun violence,� said Harper.
Representative Kathleen Willis has long fought for legislation to prevent gun violence. The Addison Democrat said she wants the proposal to move forward because it’s a step in the right direction. Willis stressed the goal would be to obtain those statistics and trends, rather than changing gun laws in Illinois.
“We’re not gonna try to take anybody’s guns away,� said Willis. “We’re not gonna do anything that is going to violate the second amendment. We are going to research this issue and come up hopefully, as a result of this with different legislation that we can go and really address the issue.�
The measure passed with a bipartisan vote 19-0. It now moves to the House floor for second reading.
