On Oct. 21, 1983, Oak Park native James Piszczo, an attorney and Judge Henry Gentile were shot and killed in a Cook County Court room. In the wake of this tragedy, 6,000 signatures across Oak Park were collected and the Oak Park Citizens Committee for Handgun Control was created to appeal to the village for reform. Forty-three years later, firearms are the #1 cause of death for children and teens, and they injure 6,700 Illinoisans every year.
Most firearm owners agree that “With Rights Come Responsibilities.” Our community’s recent focus on secure storage of guns echoes this theme.
However, a 2005 federal law (PLCAA) gave the firearm industry broad immunity from lawsuits, shielding them from responsibility for the harm created by their products. The firearm industry has zero incentive to prioritize safety in product design or reform distribution practices.
Fear and trauma has become the marketplace where firearm makers make their billions. Meanwhile, survivors, families and taxpayers are left to shoulder the costs. Each year, gun injury costs Illinois families and taxpayers $18-20 billion.
A proposed Illinois state law, the RIFL Act, addresses this imbalance.
Simply put, the Responsibility in Firearm Legislation (RIFL) Act requires firearm manufacturers to share the costs taxpayers pay for gun injury in Illinois and help fund evidence-based violence and suicide prevention efforts and victim services.
To sell, distribute, or import in Illinois, firearm manufacturers must contribute to a fund annually based on how many of their products are recovered following firearm injuries. As their contribution to firearm injury increases or decreases, so does their contribution to this fund.
The RIFL Act currently has amassed 49 House and 27 Senate sponsors, and votes will be held to pass this during the upcoming veto and lame duck session. But the political will of the Governor, Senate and House leadership is necessary.
Call your State Senator, Representative and Governor Pritzker (217-782-6830). For most of Oak Park, that’s Senate President Don Harmon, 217-782-8176, and Representative Camille Lilly, 217-782-6400 Tell them the RIFL Act is needed now. The bill is due.
Lois Thiessen Love
Gun Responsibility Advocates