Tagged: assault weapons

The Illinois Senate returns to the Capitol on Wednesday to begin a weeklong legislative session that could take up pension reform, legalizing gay marriage and banning assault rifles.

The 97th General Assembly will finish its work Jan. 9 when a new Legislature is sworn in. That means there are many lame-duck lawmakers not returning who might feel less constrained to vote for contentious issues. The House comes in Sunday.

Gov. Pat Quinn has made it a priority for the assembly to find a solution to the state employee retirement programs that are underfunded by $96 billion.

Updated 1:56 p.m. Dec. 20 with information about background  checks in Illinois

It’s perhaps counter intuitive, but when acts of violence shake the nation, sales of guns go up. The same is happening with the sales of semi-automatic rifles and high-capacity magazines.

Under normal circumstances you might be confuse the rush of customers at Mid America Arms in South St. Louis, as Christmas shoppers, but not so this year.

“It’s been one of our best days in 13 years but…not for the right reasons,” says owner Mark Campbell.