Springfield, IL…State Representative Norine Hammond (R-Macomb) said that she and her downstate colleagues in the General Assembly will fight tooth and nail to ensure that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s statewide handgun registration and associated fees do not make it through the legislature.

“It always amazes me that these overreaching gun control measures emerge each year from the city of Chicago .  We are talking about a city that has the most restrictive gun laws in the nation and also happens to have some of the highest gun violence in the nation.  That is no coincidence,” said Hammond referring to the fact that Chicago ’s gun ordinances enable criminals while disarming law-abiding citizens.  “I don’t think the people in downstate want to be dictated to by Chicago politicians, and I know for a fact they don’t want Chicago’s failed gun policies forced upon the entire state.”

The Chicago Mayor has proposed creating a statewide handgun registry that would require all handguns be registered and documented in a statewide database.  Each handgun that is registered would require a $65 fee every five years.  That means an individual who owns ten handguns would be forced to pay $650 dollars.  A failure to properly register a handgun would result in a Class 2 Felony.

“The proposal is ridiculous in its very nature.  How many criminals are really going to go register their guns and pay a fee?  Most don’t even legally own the guns to begin with.  Instead, this would make a criminal out of an ordinary gun owner who just wants to protect their family,” said Rep. Hammond.