Rock Island Today

Illinois state Rep. Tony McCombie (R-Savanna) hinted at a possible legal battle over the State's newly enacted ban on assault weapons known as the Protect Illinois Community Act.

Gov. JB Pritzker signed the bill into law on Jan. 10, a WLS report said. The law took effect immediately and banned assault weapons, high-capacity magazines and rapid-fire devices.

"Firearms ban bill passes the senate and the house... upon the signage... this goes to court!" McCombie said in a Facebook post the same day.

The amended House Bill 5471 clarified what was banned, including magazines with more than 10 rounds for long guns, and magazines with more than 15 rounds for handguns.

McCombie issued a more in-depth statement on her legislative website.

“This new law includes a list of firearms banned with little and, often, no linkage to weapons used in homicidal mass-violence crimes which the advocates aim to address,” she said in the statement. “This poorly written piece of legislation will be challenged in the courts and, like in other states, will likely be found unconstitutional.

“This bill will not address the root causes of violent gun crimes nor do anything to penalize crimes committed with a firearm. This bill also requires a registry of firearms purchased legally, which is just another step toward firearm confiscation.”

McCombie further reminded readers that cybercriminals hacked the Illinois FOID system in 2021. 

McCombie was first elected to represent residents of Illinois' 71st District in 2016. She previously served as mayor of Savanna and as a member of the city council. McCombie owns and operates Blue Appraisals and is a real estate broker with MelFoster Company.