'Moms Demand Action', Rep. Brad Schneider Oppose 'Concealed Carry Reciprocity'

LINCOLNSHIRE, IL — About a dozen volunteers from the Illinois chapter of the group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America visited the office of Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Deerfield) Thursday and handed over hundreds of postcards from 10th District voters asking Congress to block a pending law they say would make residents less safe by weakening Illinois' gun laws. The NRA-backed proposal would make all states accept licenses to carry concealed weapons that have been issued by other states.

Illinois was the last state in the nation to legalize concealed carry after the state ban on all concealed firearms was struck down by a federal court in 2012, and while more than 20 other states accept licenses issued by Illinois — which require 16 hours of training — the state does not accept any concealed carry licenses issued by other states.

Volunteers for the Illinois chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America thanked Rep. Schneider for opposing the federal reciprocity proposal.

"We’re outraged by the gun violence crisis taking so many lives here in Illinois and across the country" said Caryn Fliegler. "The last thing Congress should do is make things worse by passing dangerous legislation like ‘Concealed Carry Reciprocity.’" (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Deerfield — or your community. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

Schneider said the proposed law would weaken states' abilities to set standards for who should be able to acquire a concealed carry license.

"So-called ‘Concealed Carry Reciprocity’ undermines American gun laws by forcing states to accept the concealed carry permitting standards of every other state, even if another state has no standards at all," Schneider said. "My constituents want commonsense gun safety standards to protect our communities, not a race-to-the-bottom policy that puts more of our neighbors at risk."

Supporters of the reciprocity proposal disagree.

Illinois State Rifle Association Executive Director Richard Pearson told the Deerfield Review he thinks the change will not make things more dangerous.

"Our people are pretty well versed when they go to another state," he said. "There is no real problem with reciprocity anyway."

_{Photos via Moms Demand Action for Gun Safety}