A high-profile group is making a massive ad buy to put pressure on Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner to sign far-reaching gun legislation.
The Democratic Governors Association is making what it calls a “high six-figure” ad buy to run advertisements on digital platform. The first 15-second ad, released Thursday, calls on Rauner to show leadership on gun safety, and accuses him of letting the NRA “call the shots:”
“Illinoisans are fed up with Bruce Rauner’s failure to show leadership on gun safety,” DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro said. “The nation reels from one shooting after another, and in three years Rauner‘s refused to take on the NRA and take charge in Illinois.”
On Wednesday, the Illinois House approved bills that would ban the sale and possession of so-called “bump-stocks,” would restrict the purchase of assault-style weapons to people under the age of 21, and would create a state licensing and training program for gun dealers.
The latter bill will head to Rauner’s desk after previously being approved by the Senate.
Lawmakers are also considering proposals to ban body armor and extended magazines as part of a gun-reform package of legislation.
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“The DGA knows full well that Governor Rauner is working hard to ensure that guns stay out of the wrong hands," Republican Governors Association Spokesman Steven Yaffe said in a statement. "This is the DGA desperately spending J.B. Pritzker’s cash to distract from shocking revelations that their favored candidate is a corrupt political insider with longtime ties to Mike Madigan and Rod Blagojevich.”
