It has been one year and nine months since the shooting at the Henry Pratt manufacturing company devastated Aurora. Tragically, we are no safer than we were almost two years ago.
No action has been taken to keep Aurora, or the rest of Illinois safe from gun violence since this tragedy. Lawmakers have failed to correct the glaring and deadly loopholes the shooting at Henry Pratt exposed, which allowed the shooter to get and keep his guns, despite his violent and criminal past. That is why I am writing to you today, as your constituent, to urge you to take action to prevent more tragedies like this by passing SB1966, the BIO Bill.
As communities across Illinois are dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, gun violence continues to threaten our everyday safety and destroy lives. Under orders to “stay at home” gun violence is up 6% while unintentional shootings increase, and the rate of calls to domestic violence and suicide hotlines continues to grow. The combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and the gun violence epidemic is a disaster, which will only get worse in the summer months. As temperatures spike, so too will gun violence.
Without meaningful action to reduce the availability of illegal guns, and keep guns out of the wrong hands, the rate of gun violence will only increase. It is now more important than ever that lawmakers act to keep us all safe.
The BIO Bill (SB1966) will help address the gun violence epidemic plaguing our state by closing the dangerous loopholes in our current law that were exposed after the shooting at Henry Pratt. SB1966 will strengthen the FOID card system to ensure that people who are prohibited from gun possession are not able to evade the law and arm themselves.
As your constituent, I urge you to honor those we lost almost two years ago with action, by passing SB1966 the BIO Bill.