CHICAGO (AP) — A state lawmaker is pushing legislation that would ban the sale of lion meat and the slaughter of the animals in Illinois, saying he knows of at least two places where he believes the meat is sold.

Lion burgers are practically nonexistent on restaurant menus, so the measure left some political observers baffled as to how the issue surfaced at a time when Illinois is facing the worst public pension shortfall in the nation and also debating gun control and other weighty issues.

Rep. Luis Arroyo, the Chicago Democrat sponsoring the measure, would not identify the two places where he thinks lion meat is for sale, but he said slaughtering the animal for food is inhumane and needs to be outlawed.