Prairie State Wire

A gun-rights group is decrying a bill that would allow the state to revoke the driver’s licenses of Illinoisans if police suspect they have unregistered firearms.

The measure is a regulatory function meant to add teeth to sweeping gun control legislation in HB5855, the Protect Illinois Communities Act, which critics say would outlaw over 100 common types of firearms and magazines. 

“HB5859 states that if you are ordered to turn over your guns to the lord and master, and you somehow can’t find them or they were lost in a boating accident, you get to cough up your drivers license until you cough up the guns they THINK you have. Whether or not you have them,” the group said on Facebook. “I would 'never’ tell you to disobey the law, and not register your guns, or tell you to move them to a storage locker in another state (like Iowa where they just passed legislation enshrining the 2A), but you should be aware that registering them tells the thugs right where they can be found. Even IF we are successful in court, and the judges order the law rescinded as a gross violation of our rights, don’t think for one second the jackbooted thugs will shred their list of registered guns. They will know for all eternity where those guns are and who has them.” 

HB 5859 would allow for an Illinoisan's driver’s license to be suspended to compel them to comply with the law. “Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that the driver's license shall be suspended and the motor vehicle registration shall not be renewed until a person fully complies with an order to surrender firearms. Amends various other Acts to make conforming and other changes,” the bill’s synopsis reads in part.

The measure was sponsored by state Rep. Denyse Stoneback (D-Skokie). Stoneback is a lame-duck representative who lost a primary battle earlier this year. 

State Sen. Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) and others have argued that HB5855, which HB5859 is meant to enforce, is unconstitutional. “This is Springfield and, rather than pursuing effective policies to benefit all Illinoisans, there are some people here who have made a career out of virtue-signaling and advocating for the passage of clearly unconstitutional laws. Here we go again,” Plummer said in a statement, Meto East Sun reported. Many like-minded groups and individuals have vowed legal action to stop the gun control package should it pass as is projected in January.