Latest news with #gunsafety
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Pritzker to consider Illinois bill mandating gun owners lock up firearms
A bill that would require gun owners to keep any firearms in a locked box whenever a minor is present will soon head to Gov. JB Pritzker. Senate Bill 8, also referred to as the Safe Gun Storage Act, is the latest gun safety measure pushed by Democrats in the General Assembly. It passed the House 69-40, with Republican lawmakers warning that it could be found unconstitutional if challenged in court. The bill mandates that gun owners store their firearms in a secure, locked box in any place where they know or 'reasonably should know' that a minor without permission to access a firearm, an at-risk person or someone who is prohibited from obtaining a firearm can access the weapon. Gun owners who violate the act would be subject to civil penalties. The law would apply to both handguns and long guns, such as rifles and shotguns. Under the state's current criminal code, firearm owners are required to store their guns in a place that's inaccessible to a child under the age of 14 – SB8 raises the age requirement to a child under 18 and mandates that the gun must be locked away or equipped with a device making it temporarily inoperable. It also defines an at-risk person as someone who has shown behavior or made statements that a 'reasonable person' would consider indicative that the individual may physically harm themselves or others. 'An estimated 30 million children in our country live in a home with at least one firearm, with 4.6 million children living in homes with unlocked and loaded guns,' bill sponsor in the House, Rep. Maura Hirschauer, D-Batavia, said during floor debate. 'We are all familiar with the chilling statistics that guns are the No. 1 cause of death for our children in the United States.' The bill exempts firearms carried on a person who has a concealed carry license. The gun owner also would not be liable if a minor, at-risk or prohibited person uses the firearm in self-defense or uses it after accessing it illegally – for instance, in circumstances like breaking and entering. The Safe Gun Storage Act also makes changes to a variety of existing Illinois gun laws, including a mandate that firearm owners report a lost or stolen firearm within 48 hours of the owner finding the firearm missing, instead of the current 72-hour timeframe. Illinois State Police would also be given the ability to revoke a firearm owner's identification, or FOID, card if a gun owner fails to report a stolen or lost firearm twice or more under the bill. If a minor, at-risk or prohibited person gains access to an unlocked firearm, the bill provides the gun owner could face civil penalties ranging from $500 to $10,000 if the gun to hurt or kill another person in a crime. A separate section of the bill allows for a $1,000 fine and a Class C misdemeanor charge against a gun owner if a minor under the age of 18 causes death or bodily harm while accessing a firearm without permission. That language previously only applied to minors under the age of 14. 'Safe firearms storage and responsible gun ownership are practices on which all of us in this room, gun owners and non-gun owners alike, can agree,' Hirschauer said. 'Safe gun storage can reduce unintentional injuries, suicides and intentional harm, like school shootings, by stopping unauthorized access.' Under SB8, if a firearm owner fails to store their firearm in a secure, locked box and a minor, at-risk or prohibited person illegally obtains the firearm and uses it to hurt themselves or others – the owner could be charged with negligence. The Safe Gun Storage Act also requires Illinois State Police to expand an online database that was required under a previous law to house all information on the make, model and serial number of reported lost or stolen firearms. By Jan. 1, 2027, ISP would have to make the portal accessible to licensed firearm dealers, who would be required to cross-reference the database to ensure any firearms they are selling or transferring are not a firearm listed in the database. Another aspect of the bill classifies anyone traveling through the state with a firearm that's prohibited under state law as gun trafficking – a felony charge that can result in up to a 15-year prison sentence. During debate about the bill on the Senate floor in April, Sen. Neil Anderson, R-Andalusia, took issue with the bill giving Illinois State Police the ability to revoke a person's FOID card. He said that aspect of the bill would not pass the Rahimi test – referencing the 2023 United States v. Rahimi Supreme Court case, which ruled a court can temporarily revoke a perron's firearm rights if the court determines the firearm owner is a threat to public safety when in possession of a firearm. SB8 would allow Illinois State Police to revoke a person's FOID card, which Anderson said is in direct conflict with the Rahimi decision – which said only courts had the power to revoke a person's firearm rights. Bill sponsor Sen. Laura Ellman, D-Naperville, disagreed with Anderson, saying the Rahimi case did not exclude law enforcement from being able to revoke a person's FOID card. The bill passed the Senate on a vote of 33-19. A similar debate happened on the House floor Wednesday before the bill's eventual passage. Rep. Patrick Windhorst, R-Metropolis, took issue with the bill's creation of a potential negligence charge for gun owners who do not safely secure a gun that's used by a minor, at-risk or prohibited person to harm someone. He said he believed such a burden shift to be unconstitutional. Hirschauer responded that the burden shift only applies when the reasonable standard is met – when it's reasonably found that the gun owner should have known to safely store their firearm – or, if 'some terrible negligence' occurs. Windhorst also raised concerns about the fact that cable locks, which are locked cables inserted through a firearm's chamber and out of the magazine well, are not considered 'safe storage' under the bill. Under existing law about storing guns away from minors, a cable lock is considered safe storage of a firearm. Windhorst said that conflicts with the new language pertaining to gun storage, which does not mention devices that render a gun temporarily inoperable. 'Under the criminal code of this bill where we are changing our current child access protection law, a cable lock would suffice,' Hirschauer said. 'Under the new Safe Storage Act, it would not.' He also argued that the bill impeded the rights of concealed carry license holders who carry a gun in a vehicle, as some firearms owners currently store their gun in the center console or glove box. Under the Safe Gun Storage Act, the center console or glove box would have to be lockable in order to render the firearm safely stored. Windhorst also voiced concerns that the gun trafficking charges in the bill could be brought against a person passing through Illinois with firearms in their vehicle that are legal in their home state – a point which Hirschauer responded to by reading language in the bill that expressly excluded non-residents from the charges. 'If someone is a non-resident of Illinois and is passing through and they are a legal gun owner in the state in which they reside, if that state doesn't have a FOID card system and if they are authorized under federal law to own a gun, then they would not be subject to this,' she said. Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer, R-Murrayville, raised concerns about the bill's definition of 'lawful permission' and its limitations on minors who hunt. The bill requires firearm owners to safely secure their firearm in a locked box when around a minor who does not have 'lawful permission' from a parent or guardian to access a firearm. On the House floor, Davidsmeyer asked what constitutes 'lawful permission,' to which Hirschauer answered it, 'could be several things.' When asked whether permission must be written down or notarized for parental permission of a minor using a firearm to hunt to be considered lawful, Hirschauer answered that 'hypothetical points are fact dependent.' Davidsmeyer said the question was not a hypothetical, and that it is an issue that will crop up in 'daily life' for minors who hunt. 'This bill, I believe, violates recent Supreme Court decisions under the Second Amendment and will likely be found unconstitutional,' Windhorst said at the end of debate. Hirschauer disagreed. 'Firearm theft compromises the effectiveness of our commonsense gun laws and often results in these weapons being acquired by people who are legally prohibited from possessing them,' she said. 'The reporting measures strengthened in this bill will give law enforcement the tools they need to crack down on lost and stolen guns.' Opponents to SB8 include the ACLU of Illinois, Illinois State Rifle Association and the Illinois State Crime Commissions; the Illinois State Police did not officially oppose or support the bill. SB8 passed the Senate 33-19 last month and awaits approval from the governor before it can become law. Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Canton Sportsman Club looking for members
May 24—CANTON — The Canton Sportsman Club, on Nickerson Road, is seeking new and active members to ensure its continued operation for future generations, according to a letter from club President Kent Pratt. Established in the late 1920s, the 62-acre club aims to foster shooting sports and gun safety and provide a family-friendly outdoor space. Pratt emphasized that a small number of dedicated individuals have carried out the club's upkeep, including maintaining the trap range, shooting benches, ball field and driveway. Advertisement "As a member (owner) when you take your teenager or go yourself to shoot your new gun or your grandfather's gun that has been in the family for years, look around, walk around and realize that what you see. ... These things have been maintained by a very few people for the past several years. Thank you to those people," Pratt wrote. The club used to be a focal point of social life in Canton. Its log cabin clubhouse hosted banquets, weddings and more. "We used to have canoe races, hit and miss engine shows, snowmobile groups, and state tournaments for horseshoes. It was really something back in the day," Pratt said. The horseshoe pits were home to the four-day New York State Horseshoe Championship in 1980. Advertisement Four clubs, a trap shooting club, a snowmobile club, a CB radio club and a horseshoe club called the grounds home. Pratt said that now many members only use the club's shooting range in the fall to sight in their deer rifles. "There's just a lot of potential, but it needs work, it needs help," Pratt said. "We're just trying to figure out how to breathe life into it." The old log cabin is gone, with nothing left but a concrete slab and a chimney, but a new clubhouse offers an ample gathering space, a big kitchen and bathrooms. Members are encouraged to attend monthly meetings on the second Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. to share their ideas for expanding the club's potential. Currently, the club offers occasional trap and pistol shoots for members. Its facilities include a ball field, horseshoe pits, and a large outdoor pavilion. The club is also in the process of rebuilding the shooting range berm. Advertisement Pratt outlined a wish list for future improvements, contingent on volunteer time, talent, materials, equipment, and money. These include upgrading the shooting range, restoring electricity to an outbuilding, building a roof over an existing concrete pad, repairing the fireplace and an old garage, reestablishing an archery trail with 3-D targets, paving the access road, replacing the ball field's backstop and fence, and creating walking and cross-country skiing trails. "The biggest thing is just to get more members and get some people active and helping and doing different group stuff," he said. Information about the Canton Sportsmen's Club can be found on Facebook. Membership applications are available in a box by the club gate and at Northern New York Firearms in Hermon and in the Canton Historians office on Main Street. "A membership is $40 a year from June 1 to May 31. It's a pretty good bargain. You can come up, pitch horseshoes, have a barbecue and use the facilities."
CBS News
22-05-2025
- CBS News
Possible accidental gun discharge investigated after man is killed in Massachusetts home
A Massachusetts man was charged after another man was found shot to death at a home in Northbridge late Wednesday night and police are investigating it as a possible accidental gun discharge. Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early said police were called to a home on Legion Way shortly after 11 p.m. Wednesday. At the home, a 36-year-old man was found dead with a single gunshot wound. His name has not been released. Man arrested at Northbridge home "We didn't see or hear the gunshot but afterwards, we had quite a few...I guess there was a state and a town police car here," said neighbor Phil Greiner. "The younger of their two boys came out and I guess they took him into custody but I don't know that for sure." Christopher Lacour, 33, was arrested at the home and charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. He was arraigned Thursday in Uxbridge District Court and released on $10,000 bail. Police said he had a license to carry the gun, which has now been suspended. Gun safety reminder from DA Police said Lacour and the victim knew each other and were related but didn't say how. They added the shooting was an "isolated incident" and the public is not at risk. They said this is a lesson in gun safety. "Never underestimate the discussion you have to have with regards to gun safety," said Early. "I am comfortable saying that right now, not too much more really we can say, we've got to say in the courtroom." An autopsy is pending with the results expected to be released Friday. Police said the charges against Lacour could be upgraded once the autopsy's results are released. He is due bac in court on June 23. A man at the home where this happened told WBZ-TV he can't say anything before asking the news crew to leave.
