Chambana Sun

In a Dec. 10 Facebook post, Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) assured his constituents he would oppose House Bill 5855, legislation that would ban assault weapons in Illinois.

“We will have hearings on this bill during the 'Lame Duck' session in January. I'll have more information soon,” he wrote on Facebook.

In addition to banning assault weapons, House Bill 5855 would require that the Division of Criminal Investigation of the Illinois State Police conduct other investigations as provided by law, including, but not limited to, investigations of human trafficking, illegal drug trafficking, and illegal firearms trafficking. Under the law, the Division of Criminal Investigation would coordinate strategy pertaining to firearm-related intelligence, firearms trafficking interdiction, and investigations. It would also mean that individuals under 21 who were not an active duty member of the United States Armed Forces or the Illinois National Guard would need parental consent to obtain a Firearm Owner's Identification Card.

According to NBC Chicago, if this bill becomes law, Illinois will join 7 other states that ban assault weapons in at least some capacity, including California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. Rep. Bob Morgan (R-Deerfield) is the chief sponsor of the bill.

According to the Center Square, these are the firearms that are considered assault weapons: AA Arms AP-9 pistol, Armalite M15 11.5 pistol, Beretta 93R pistol, Bushmaster pistol, Claridge HI-TEC pistol, D Max Industries pistol, EKO Cobra pistol, Encom MK-IV, MP-9, or MP-45 pistol, Heckler and Koch MP5K, MP7, SP-89, or VP70 pistol, Holmes MP-83 pistol, Ingram MAC 10/11 pistol, and variations, including Partisan Avenger and the SWD Cobray Intratec TEC-9/DC-9 pistol in any centerfire variation, P.A.W.S. type pistol, Skorpion pistol, Spectre double action pistol (Sile, F.I.E., Mitchell), Stechkin automatic pistol, Steyer tactical pistol, UZI pistol, Weaver Arms Nighthawk pistol, Wilkinson "Linda" pistol, American Arms Spectre da Semiautomatic carbine, AR10 AR15 AR70 Armalite M15 Avtomat Kalashnikov semiautomatic rifle in any format, including the AK-47 in all forms, Algimec AGM-1 type semi-auto, AR 100 type semi-auto, AR 180 type semi-auto, Argentine L.S.R. semi-auto, Australian Automatic Arms SAR type semi-auto, Auto-Ordnance Thompson M1 and 1927 semi-automatics, Barrett light .50 cal. semi-auto, Beretta AR70 type semi-auto, Bushmaster semi-auto rifle, Calico models M-100 and M-900 CIS SR 88 type semi-auto, Claridge HI TEC C-9 carbines, Colt AR-15, CAR-15, and all imitations except Colt AR-15, Sporter H-BAR rifle, Daewoo MAX 1 and MAX 2, aka AR 100, 110C, K-1, and K-2 Dragunov Chinese made semi-auto, Famas semi-auto (.223 caliber), Feather AT-9 semi-auto, FN LAR and FN FAL assault rifle, FNC semi-auto type carbine, F.I.E./Franchi LAW 12 and SPAS 12 assault shotgun, Smith & Wesson M&P 15 Steyr-AUG-SA semi-auto, Galil models AR and ARM semi-auto, Heckler and Koch HK-91 A3, HK-93 A2, HK-94 A2 and A3, Holmes model 88 shotgun, Manchester Arms "Commando" MK-45, MK-9 Mandell TAC-1 semi-auto carbine, Mossberg model 500 Bullpup assault shotgun, Sterling Mark 6 P.A.W.S. carbine, Ruger mini-14 folding stock model (.223 caliber), SIG 550/551 assault rifle (.223 caliber), SKS with detachable magazine, AP-74 Commando type semi-auto, Springfield Armory BM-59, SAR-48, G3, SAR-3, M-21 sniper rifle, and M1A, excluding the M1 Garand Striker 12 assault shotgun in all formats, Unique F11 semi-auto type, Daewoo USAS 12 semi-auto shotgun, UZI 9mm carbine or rifle Valmet M-76 and M-78 semi-auto, Weaver Arms "Nighthawk" semi-auto carbine, Wilkinson Arms 9mm semi-auto "Terry."