Yesterday, HB-3320 — the RIFL Act — was the subject of a hearing before the House’s so-called “Gun Violence Prevention Committee” in Springfield.
And right out of the gate, Democrats rolled out one of the oldest tricks in the gun control playbook.
The RIFL Act was written to be so outrageous that it almost boggles the mind. The bill forces gun manufacturers to pay roughly $850,000,000 in licensing fees…and allows that money to go to violent criminals shot by would-be victims.
But that’s part of Pritzker’s plan.
HB-3320 was intentionally drafted to be so bad that when the Democrats introduced an amendment to make it “not quite as bad,” gun owners might believe we had scored some kind of victory.
(Rep. Kevin Olickal (L) is the lead sponsor of the bill. Dr. Anthony Douglas (R) is the driving force behind it.)
And yesterday, that’s exactly what happened.
An amendment was filed that reduces the overall fee structure from the original $866 million estimate to roughly $50 million –- with an escalation clause.
In other words, the extortion scheme remains intact.
Democrats also tried to soften the outrage around criminals getting paid by claiming the money will no longer go directly to them.
Instead, the funds will be routed through the Illinois Department of Human Services — which will then distribute the money through its programs.
So the same pipeline still exists.
Governor J.B. Pritzker and the members of this committee are hoping gun owners will look at these changes and think we’ve somehow forced them to back down.
They want us to believe the bill has been “fixed,” so we relax.
That cannot happen.
(Anthony Douglas said that ‘poor people don’t benefit from owning firearms’ during committee testimony on the RIFL Act.)
A bill designed to financially strangle the firearm industry is still a gun control bill whether the number is $866 million or $50 million. And we’re still giving this money to vicious thugs.
We need to keep the pressure up.
There are roughly seven full weeks left in the legislative session, and we need to hammer this committee and the politicians pushing HB-3320 for every one of those weeks.
SIGN YOUR PETITION OPPOSING HB-3320!
Please sign your petition right now and demand that lawmakers reject HB-3320 in any form.
Because the strategy unfolding in Springfield is simple: write a horrifying bill, amend it so it looks slightly better, and then rush it through while gun owners think the danger has passed.
We cannot fall for that trick.
For Illinois,
Aaron Dorr
Executive Director
Illinois Firearms Association
P.S.The hearing yesterday was just the beginning.
Democrats are now trying to repackage the RIFL Act so gun owners let their guard down. Sign your petition now and help us keep the pressure on this committee for the final seven weeks of session.