Durbin, Schneider announce firearm storage legislation
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Highland Park, gathered with gun violence survivors and local politicians at Highland Park City Hall on Friday to announce their new federal legislation, the SECURE Firearms Storage Act, geared at reducing the amount of stolen firearms used to commit violence.
Speaking in a packed room with survivors and members of area chapters of Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action and the Newtown Action Alliance, Durbin implored his legislative colleagues to move the legislation forward, “to have some sanity” when it comes to guns in America.
Schneider, who introduced the bill Thursday in the House, explained the legislation’s aim is to reduce stolen guns from federally licensed firearm dealers by requiring all firearms to be securely stored when dealers are not open.
“Walk by a jewelry store late at night and you’ll see a window with empty cases,” Schneider said. “Because they know the high value of their product is attractive to thieves. It should be no different for a gun.”
According to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive, more than 8,900 firearms were reported stolen throughout 2020 and 2021.
The bill would also authorize the U.S. attorney general to review and require additional security measures to reduce theft risk, and would add a new section on the federally licensed firearms dealer application requiring applicants to describe security plans before licenses are approved.
Durbin noted that the legislation is being introduced during National Gun Violence Survivors Week, which runs from Feb. 1-7 and is the approximate time of year when gun deaths in America, “surpass the number of gun deaths experienced by other countries in the entire year.”
He believes the nation took notice last summer when a gunman fired more than 80 rounds into the crowd of Highland Park’s Fourth of July parade, killing seven people and wounding dozens.
“I think it had an impact on America,” Durbin said. “We always think that the next major gun violence episode is going to be the turning point. Well, in a way, sadly but importantly, Highland Park was a turning point in the national debate.
“It’s time for us to come together and finally do something,” he continued. “Not all I wanted and not all Brad wanted, but something to move forward to have some sanity when it came to the use of guns in America.”
Durbin said the passage of the Safer Communities Act last summer makes him hopeful some Republicans might give the bill serious consideration.
“(The shooting) really touched a nerve across of America,” Durbin said. “And it inspired a number of Republicans to come forward and agree to some basics. Just basics, not really getting into what we need to do, but moved us in the right direction.”
Schneider, who now operates in the U.S. House minority, said he is “constantly” at work to convince a handful of Republicans to give the legislation the support it needs to work its way through the chamber, but he warned, “It’s not going to be easy.”
“(In the past) I’ve had Republican colleagues say, ‘Let me look at it,’ but we’ve not been able to get them over the hump,” Schneider said. “But I’m hopeful. I’m always hopeful. It’s in my genes.”
Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering noted how legislators promised survivors and victims’ families the shooting would “be a catalyst to action,” and added that “we are keenly aware that no state is an island” when it comes to gun laws.
“Gun trafficking by criminals across our state borders is a frightening reality,” Rotering said. “In the absence of a federal assault weapons ban, the SECURE Firearm Storage Act is common sense legislation that respects the Second Amendment and will also keep guns out of the wrong hands, preventing them from bringing carnage to our communities.”
Durbin said some “significant strides” have been made by enacting the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which he called the “most comprehensive gun reform bill in Washington in 30 years.” He also saluted Illinois lawmakers for passing a state assault weapons ban and high-capacity magazines, which has swiftly been challenged in court by gun rights advocates.
“It seems so obvious, this bill would help prevent ‘smash and grab’ burglaries from gun stores, which too often result in stolen guns being used later in violent crimes,” Durbin said.
He then cited a Chicago Tribune investigation which found that one stolen gun from Wisconsin was linked to 27 shootings in Chicago.
Durbin then mentioned a new gun called the JR-15, a .22 caliber rifle he said an Illinois-based manufacturer is marketing to younger audiences.
“(The) Junior 15, it is being marketed in children’s sizes, so they can buy the gun and use it, I suppose, in some manner, even if they’re kids,” Durbin said. “This notion of glorifying a military assault weapon that is responsible for so many deaths is an outrage. The fact that it is an Illinois company is particularly galling.”
Schneider said the impact of gun violence is “with us forever,” recalling a story about how his mother’s uncle, Sam, was shot and killed in his office in the 1940s. He emphasized that he and Durbin would not cease their efforts to pass gun control legislation, even if this effort stalls like some prior gun-related bills.
“I say we keep going because we have no choice,” Schneider said. “The people behind me say the same thing. We are going to keep working to make our communities safer, day in and day out, until we achieve our goals.”
State Sen. Julie Morrison, D-Deerfield, said the bill would put “good policy and public safety ahead of the gun lobby’s profits, their propaganda and their fearmongering.”
State Rep. Bob Morgan, D-Deerfield, who co-sponsored the Illinois assault weapons legislative package, pledged to support his federal legislators “every step of the way.”
Liz Turnipseed, a survivor recovering from being shot in the pelvis, said she wanted to “put a real face to what surviving a mass shooting looks like.”
She recalled watching the news coverage of the shooting while in the hospital that night, and said she was “unbelievably lucky” that the bullet entered the right side of her pubic bone, bounced around her pelvis and exited from her left leg, missing all her organs.
The trauma from gun violence follows survivors long after their hospital stays, she said.
“It just continues,” Turnipseed said. “It’s not like you go in and you get patched up and you go on with your life. You’ve got mental health treatment, ongoing physical therapy, ongoing doctor’s appointments, thousands upon thousands of dollars of medical bills that can follow you for, potentially, years, decades.”