Illinois Gun Makers Aiming at Iowa?

The Quad City Times reports that gun manufacturers are very nervous because of Illinois gun legislation and are looking across the river to Iowa and other places for greener, gun-friendly pastures.

Illinois legislators are considering a law (Senate Bill 1007) which would prohibit the purchase, sale, manufacture or possession of detachable ammunition-feeding devices that can store more than 10 rounds (it passed last week 31 to 26 in the Illinois Senate). Law enforcement officials, prison wardens and guards, and military personnel would be exempt from the ban. The law would affect manufacturers that produce large-capacity gun magazine clips, including five Illinois companies: Springfield Armory, Geneseo, Ill.; ArmaLite, Geneseo; Rock River Arms, Colona, Ill.; Les Baer Custom, Hillsdale, Ill.; and Lewis Machine and Tool, Milan, Ill.

Supporters of the plan, including former gun control activist Dan Kotowski, a Democratic state senator from Park Ridge, say banning ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds would help save lives, including those of students at Virginia Tech University.

The Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence called the Senate’s action a ’’significant step’’ in efforts to reduce the ’’lethality’’ of guns sold in Illinois."Firearms that accept high capacity magazines have been used in several of our nation’s deadliest shootings, including the Columbine shootings and the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech. There is no question that high capacity magazines were a major reason why so many innocent people were killed and wounded in these incidents,’’ noted Thomas Mannard, the council’s executive director.

For others, they see the bill as being about jobs. For Illinois, it means 450 jobs and $20 million in revenue will be lost if the companies move. ’’What concerns me about it is it’s just so anti-jobs,’’ said Mike Jacobs, a Illinois legislator. ’’My area has been building guns since the 1890s. All of a sudden the manufacturers are saying, ’We’re leaving, we’ve had enough of Illinois.’’’

Les Baer, owner of Les Baer Custom, is relocating his production facility across the Mississippi River to LeClaire, Iowa. ’’We’re moving. I’m out of here,’’ Baer said Friday. And others may follow.