Top Democratic leaders, including Gov. Pat Quinn, and parents of Sandy Hook victims are urging lawmakers to ban high-capacity ammunition magazines.
Quinn, Senate President John Cullerton and state Sen. Dan Kotowski spoke Sunday at a news conference in Chicago with parents of children killed last December in the Newtown, Conn. school shooting.
"The families that are represented here today and those impacted by gun violence in this city are demanding a different focus," said Cullerton. "They want stronger, more sensible and safer gun laws."
Kotowski introduced legislation late last week that would ban the sale, delivery and possession of magazines that accept more than 10 rounds.
He and the others urged lawmakers to take it up before adjourning on May 31.
Quinn wants an assault weapons ban and tried unsuccessfully to push for one in the past.
The push comes as lawmakers face a June 9 deadline to legalize concealed carry.
The deadline was imposed by a federal appeals court who ruled the state ban on public possession of firearms- the only one in all 50 states- was unconstitutional.
"I refuse to let one faction, the National Rifle Association, dictate a response that benefits their interests while silencing the voices of victims," Cullerton said.
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If lawmakers don't meet the June 9 deadline then anyone in the state with a firearm owners identification card could carry a concealed weapon anywhere, Sheriff Tom Dart said, who recently proposed a countywide concealed-carry ordinance.
"We would have the Wild West," he said. "There would be no regulation."
