* From the National Rifle Association yesterday…

Today, the Illinois state Senate voted 35-18 to pass Senate Amendment 3 to Senate Bill 337, which would shut down your local gun stores with onerous red tape and regulations. Governor Bruce Rauner has previously vetoed two of these egregious dealer licensing bills, but anti-gun legislators are not giving up.

* Sun-Times…

Even after the Democratic sponsor of a gun dealer oversight measure made changes and brought in bipartisan support, Gov. Bruce Rauner on Thursday called a revamped effort “political grandstanding” while also blaming a familiar foe: Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan. […]

“This is the sort of legislation that comes out of the General Assembly under Madigan’s Democrats that really, it just creates hassles for businesses and honest business owners — red tape, filings and fees,” Rauner said Thursday morning on WJPF, a radio station in southern Illinois. “And it really doesn’t improve public safety and it doesn’t really stop criminals. This is the kind of legislation that really, it’s more for headlines than it really is to keep the people of Illinois safe.”

Rauner said the motivation for the new bill is “political grandstanding, grabbing for headlines rather than trying to get real improvement for the people of Illinois.”

“That happens far too often with Madigan, the Democrats and the General Assembly,” Rauner said.

The governor’s office said the “burden on small businesses” is the chief concern regarding the new bill, but noted they will fully review the bill if it makes it to his desk.

* Pritzker campaign…

After Bruce Rauner announced his opposition to the second bipartisan gun dealer licensing bill, JB Pritzker released the following statement:

“There are lives on the line as Bruce Rauner plays the lowest form of election year-politics,” said JB Pritzker. “This callous governor vetoed a commonsense Gun Dealer Licensing Act that would have helped keep families and communities safe. Now, after bipartisan legislators came together on a compromise that addresses Rauner’s concerns, he still plans to shamefully oppose the bill. It’s past time for this failed governor to put people before politics and do something about the senseless gun violence ravaging our communities.”

* OK, now let’s go back to the NRA…

SA 3 to SB 337 will now go to the House of Representatives for further consideration, where anti-gun legislators are also attempting to override Gov. Rauner’s veto on a bill which would arbitrarily expand waiting periods for certain commonly owned semi-automatic firearms. Please contact your state Representative and urge them to OPPOSE SA 3 to SB 337 and to OPPOSE overriding the veto of HB 1468. Click the “Take Action” button below to contact your state Representative.

The NRA apparently understands that a big part of the reason for the governor’s amendatory veto to partially reinstate the death penalty was to distract from the fact that he’s actually vetoing a bill to expand waiting periods for assault weapons.

* Related…

* Madigan sets up vote on Rauner death penalty plan, creating political minefield: Lawmakers on both sides who vote against the measure could find themselves targeted by political opponents as being soft on crime and weak in their support of law enforcement by refusing to lift the state’s seven-year ban on capital punishment. That could particularly impact suburban Democratic lawmakers in a region where the party has made increasing inroads on traditionally Republican territory. … While reinstating the death penalty has its appeal to Republican voters, Rauner’s plan also would create a 72-hour waiting period for all guns, not just military-style firearms contained in the original bil. An expansion of the waiting period is opposed by the politically powerful National Rifle Association and is at odds with many voters in rural Illinois legislative districts represented by Republicans who champion their support for gun rights.