Illinois lawmakers considering a ban on guns like Glocks

Illinois lawmakers are considering legislation that a major gun rights organization says would effectively ban one of the nation’s most popular types of firearms.

The House Gun Violence Prevention Committee voted 9-5 along party lines on Wednesday to pass House Bill 4471, which seeks to ban the sale of any semiautomatic pistol with a cruciform trigger bar in Illinois. Supporters say that design can be altered to install an already illegal switch, ultimately turning the pistol into a machine gun.

John Weber, the Illinois director of the National Rifle Association, said banning that design would ban Glocks from being sold in Illinois. But like the state’s ban on assault weapons, it would not apply to people who currently own that type of gun.

Bill sponsor Rep. Justin Slaughter, D-Orland Park, called the bill “a consumer product safety measure” that “continues to support smart, sensible gun ownership.”

Slaughter said consumers still have other pistols to choose from that do not use the same firing mechanism design as Glock, such as Henry County-based Springfield Armory.

Advocates said the goal is to put pressure on Glock to change their design to make it impossible for their guns to be modified with a switch. Lawmakers in California banned the sale of guns with the design beginning July 1, while legislators in Maryland and Connecticut have approved similar policies in recent weeks.

“The Responsible Gun Manufacturing Act will go to the root cause of the source by holding the gun industry accountable,” said Kathleen Sances, president of the Gun Violence Prevention PAC. “By requiring the industry to put a safer design, we can prevent convertible deaths from being made in the first place.”

Slaughter said it’s a change Glock should easily be able to make since the company sells a model in Europe that would comply with his bill, though it is not sold in the United States. Glock did not respond to a request for comment.

Slaughter said Chicago police have recovered 1,300 modified Glocks used in crimes and argued that banning its easily modified design is paramount to protect public safety. The bill’s appearance in Springfield comes nearly two years after Chicago sued Glock, alleging the company makes guns that it knows can be easily modified with illegal switches. The lawsuit is still making its way through the courts.

Republicans argued Democrats are misplacing their blame on gun owners for violent crimes.

“As a legal gun owner, there’s nothing I want more than for gun violence to stop because every time some criminal goes out with a gun, you all threaten to take away my rights to protect my family,” said Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer, R-Murrayville.

Weber said he doubts the bill would meaningfully reduce gun violence and it raises legal questions since Glocks could be considered “common use” guns. The NRA has already filed a lawsuit challenging California’s law under that basis.

Mental health checks

A separate bill also approved by the committee on Wednesday seeks to streamline mental health evaluations to determine whether a person can have their Firearm Owner Identification returned after receiving mental health treatment.

House Bill 5209, which also passed on a partisan 9-5 vote, establishes new training requirements for providers that make evaluations about a person’s mental fitness to get their FOID card back. It also establishes new requirements people must follow to complete the mental heath evaluations.

But gun rights groups raised broader concerns about existing state law, which restricts people who have been a patient at a mental health facility from having a FOID card for five years. Illinois State Rifle Association lobbyist Ed Sullivan said the bill takes steps to rectify broader problems with the law, but lawmakers should consider further amendments.

“A woman commits herself for postpartum depression. She goes in for evaluation; she goes in for treatment, and you know, two-three months later — clean bill of health,” Sullivan said. “Why should that person lose their FOID card for five years?”

Davidsmeyer said he’s concerned the law scares people away from seeking mental health treatment over fear they will lose their permit to own a gun and have to give up a hobby like hunting.