CHICAGO—State Senator Elgie R. Sims, Jr. (D-Chicago) released the following statement on the governor’s amendatory veto (AV) of House Bill 1468, which prevents the delivery of assault weapons until 72 hours after application for purchase:

“It’s clear that the governor’s rewrite of HB 1468 is a partisan ploy to kill this legislation.

This plan originally focused on a 72-hour wait period for the delivery of assault weapons. His change to extend this to all weapons is something that we could discuss as a legislative body, but to combine multiple bills and throw in death penalty policy, isn’t.

Gov. Rauner’s had HB 1468 on his desk since March 15. He decided to make changes just one day before his deadline to take action to limit the amount of time the General Assembly has to consider it. He essentially wants the plan to die.

During the governor’s State of the State address he said he wanted ‘bipartisan dedication to restore public trust,’ yet he plays these political games with legislation that’s meant to prevent gun violence and mass shootings.

We have little more than two weeks left in session. It’s time to work together to do what’s best to protect working families throughout our state, not play partisan politics.”