The survivors of the Parkland massacre have given voice to the utter insanity of our national gun fetish, seemingly shifting the dynamic of the gun safety debate. The kids who survived the shooting have bravely and eloquently led us to a possible turning point, but it will be up to the voters to follow through and bring about the changes we seek by showing our politicians that gun safety is of paramount concern to us and that we will no longer let them ignore this issue.
On Tuesday Illinois governor Bruce Rauner vetoed legislation that would have required state licensing and regulation of gun merchants. This setback provides an opportunity for progressive voters in Illinois to start teaching politicians that we will hold them responsible for gun safety legislation. An override of Rauner’s veto would send an unmistakable message that the ground has shifted on the gun lobby.
The first step to override Rauner’s veto of IL SB 1657 requires a three-fifths majority vote of the Illinois state senate, which will need to happen in April. (The Illinois Constitution requires that the originating house of the legislature act within 15 days of return of the bill by the governor, but Rauner neglected to return the bill to the state senate, mistakenly delivering it to the secretary of state, who won’t deliver it to the senate until they return from their adjournment.)
The bill originally passed the senate with a bare majority of 30 votes, (there are 59 state senators in Illinois), but one democrat voted against the bill and seven democrats didn’t vote one way or another. 36 votes would constitute a three-fifths majority, so six more votes are all that is needed to override in the senate.
These are the eight Democratic state senators who need to be persuaded to vote for the bill along with the phone numbers for their offices in Springfield and their local districts:
These state senators mostly represent urban/suburban districts where this bill is popular, and there is no reason we shouldn’t be able to pressure them to change their minds.
Cullerton is the only democrat who voted against the bill, and his district is in northern DuPage County, including such towns as Addison, Carol Stream and Villa Park.
Bertino-Tarrant represents parts of Will, DuPage, and Kendall counties, including parts of Joliet, Bolingbrook, and Romeoville.
Haine’s district includes parts of Madison County such as Granite City, Alton, and Edwardsville.
Hastings represents parts of Will County and Cook County, including Joliet, Orland Park, Tinley park and Flossmoor.
Holmes’s district includes parts of several counties, such as Kane, and DuPage and includes Aurora and Naperville. She is running unopposed in the primary and the general election and has no reason to not support this bill.
Koehler’s district includes Peoria and neighboring areas, Manar’s district includes Decatur and Springfield, and Stadelman’s district includes Rockford.
Finally, one republican senator voted for the bill and should be encouraged to continue his support:
Rooney represents parts of Cook and Lake Counties (Barrington, Palatine and other towns).
I urge any Kossaks who are represented by these state senators to recruit their families and friends to call their senator’s offices every day and urge them to vote to override Rauner’s veto of IL SB 1657.