Macon Reporter

State Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) is standing by the constitution as the battle over gun control has reignited across the country in the wake of a pair of mass shootings earlier this month that left at least 31 dead.

“It hasn’t changed my position,” Halbrook told the Chambana Sun. “We have a constitutional right and I believe that things would be worse if we were not able to possess firearms or were to restrict it further. Bad people are always going to have firearms. If they know that no one has them, it makes it a lot easier for them to do what they want to do.”

Just the same, Halbrook said he suspects that lawmakers in Springfield will again be faced with debating Senate Bill 1966 in the wake of the deadly shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio.

The bill seeks to raise the cost of Firearm Owner Identification (FOID) card, require gun owners to submit to fingerprinting before obtaining a FOID card at a maximum service cost of $30 and increase card renewal costs previously passed the House before stalling in the Senate without getting a vote.

“I think with the issue for more gun control is (that it's) always going be there,” Halbrook added. “It may die down momentarily but it never goes away.”

As the bill made its way through the House before stalling in the Senate without a vote, Halbrook was one of the harshest critics of the legislation.

“This legislation is another example of why so many people in rural Illinois want to separate from Chicago and form a new state,” he posted on his website. “Chicago legislators continue to force their values on the rest of the state and there is little interest in trying to understand our perspective.”