Concealed carry bill - 5 votes short

The Illinois House of Representatives voted late this afternoon on HB 0148, the concealed carry bill, and it was five votes short of the super-majority needed to make it bulletproof when it hit Gov. Quinn's desk. A super-majority would also keep it out of the clutches of home-rule cities and prevent their watering it down with local rules.

HB 0148 is still alive. It's on the House Calendar as "Consideration Postponed".
Rep. Jack Franks signed on as a co-sponsor today.  THANK YOU, JACK!

Also signing on today as co-sponsors were Rep. Kay Hatcher and Rep. Michael Connelly, bringing the number of co-sponsors to 45. McHenry County's Rep. Mike Tryon had signed on as a co-sponsor back on February 24.

There are some strong proponents of this bill who are not sponsors. At least one of them, with whose office I spoke yesterday, believes he can do more "behind the scenes" than by having his name on the dotted line. His office told me that extreme pressure has been put on him to vote against the bill, but his office told me he will vote for it.

You can see the line-up of co-sponsors at http://www.ilga.gov/ Look for the small box on the left for "Search by Number". Enter HB 0148 and click on "Go". Then click on "View All Actions".

No doubt that pressure will be brought to bear on many of these co-Sponsors. Be sure to contact them and thank them for their courage and ask them to resist all efforts to change their minds.