Daley's gun control bills miss the mark

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You have to hand it to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. He doesn't give up.

Daley, always with an eye toward further expanding his influence into downstate Illinois, once again is calling for stricter gun-control legislation. He joined other Chicago area officials Wednesday in promoting three bills which previously were rejected by the Illinois General Assembly.

Daley is not the only mayor to call for tighter gun restrictions. He belongs to a group called Mayors Against Illegal Guns. The mayors are alarmed at gang members shooting each other and innocent bystanders. They want to stop it.

The first bill Daley wants is a ban on assault weapons. This was defeated in 2005 by one vote in the House.

The second bill would limit handgun purchases to one per month. This failed in 2005 by a 34-20 vote in the Senate.

Daley's third bill would require licensing for handgun dealers. It, too, has been tried before and failed, according to state Rep. Jerry Mitchell, R-Sterling.

The concern for citizens, whether they be gun owners or not, is this: Will any of Daley's bills have a positive effect on rampant gun violence in Chicago?

We have our doubts. Those who break the law won't exactly be lining up to obey any new gun-control laws engineered by Daley and company. We're concerned, too, that the rights of law-abiding gun owners, including folks around here, will be trampled. That flies in the face of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

We abhor gun violence. If gang members abuse guns, they should face severe penalties. However, there already are a lot of laws on the books regulating illegal behavior with guns. Why aren't these laws doing the job?

Instead of lawmakers rubber-stamping Daley's scheme, we'd prefer to see them appropriate more money to intensify enforcement programs for existing gun-control laws.

Few issues divide Chicago and downstate Illinois like gun control.

"There's a very strong contingent of hunters and downstaters who don't want to see those laws statewide," Mitchell said. He described this group as the sportsmen's caucus. It consists of about 150 of the 177 members in the Legislature.

In the contest between Daley and the sportsmen, we're pulling for the sportsmen. Daley should stick to banning foie gras, not firearms.