Carbondale Reporter

Illinois state Rep. Terri Bryant is blasting the recent passage of Senate Bill 1966 as a “frontal assault on constitutional rights.”

“This bill isn’t about stopping crime,” Bryant added in a post to her website of the bill that substantially raises fees for Firearm Owners Identification Card (FOID) applications and Concealed Carry Licenses. 

“SB 1966 will strangle the rights of anyone that might want to purchase or transfer a gun for the infinite future. Supporters of this legislation aim to make gun ownership too expensive and too big of a pain,” Bryant wrote.

Now in her fifth year in Springfield, Bryant said encountering gun control bills she considers to be too rigid are nothing new, though she adds nothing quite compares to SB 1966.

“Where else in America do we see legislators introducing bills that make followers of the Bill of Rights jump through hoops to enjoy their God-given freedoms,” she added. “I have some folks that I represent in my rural district that really have to have a firearm to protect themselves and, we’re going to require them to come up with money that they don’t necessarily have just to afford to protect themselves.”

In the end, the bill easily passed the House by a 62-52 vote, though Bryant predicts that may not be the end of things.

“Opponents of this legislation have indicated that they will file an immediate permanent injunction in court prior to the ink being dry on the governor’s signature,” she said. “The United States Constitution and Bill of Rights are not menus from which to pick and choose. Illinois citizens are United States citizens. United States citizens are guaranteed certain rights. This legislation goes too far and I believe it will be found unconstitutional.”