An Illinois House committee has advanced multiple pieces of legislation designed to restrict firearms sales and possession and address mental health issues tied to firearms ownership.
The Democratic-controlled Judiciary-Criminal Committee moved five measures to the House floor Tuesday in response to the Parkland, Florida school shootings and the shooting death a day earlier of a police officer in Chicago's Loop.
House Speaker Mike Madigan's spokesman Steve Brown said the Speaker had guarded optimism about the bills when he announced plans to call the bills this week.
Brown notes the Speaker sees the pieces of legislation as a matter of gun safety, not gun control.
The bills are expected to reach the House floor today.
