STERLING – U.S. Reps. Cheri Bustos and Adam Kinzinger are of different parties, but they have something in common: They avoid specific questions about guns.

For weeks, Sauk Valley Media has unsuccessfully sought to interview Bustos, a Moline Democrat, and Kinzinger, a Manteno Republican, about the points raised by President Barack Obama in his recent proposal to curb gun violence.

Obama pushed for background checks on all gun purchases, a reinstatement of the assault weapons ban, and a limit on ammunition magazines to 10 or fewer rounds, among other things.