Silence is Dangerous

Instead of passing a budget to help working families achieve their potential, the Illinois Senate is considering a bill that would threaten the freedom of children and law enforcement by making handguns even more dangerous. Senate bill 50 will legalize silencers – the perfect accessory for a criminal who wants to conceal a crime. It is unconscionable the General Assembly would even consider passing this dangerous legislation following a year we mourned over 700 people dead from gun violence.

SB 50 will increase the number of innocent victims caught in gang crossfire
SB 50 will make school shootings and all mass shootings even more dangerous
SB 50 will threaten the safety of law enforcement

What can you do? Follow the instructions below to file a witness slip opposing the bill.

OPPOSE SB50

Witness Slips Needed

SB50, the Silencer Bill, has been posted for Criminal Law Committee on Wednesday, January 25, 2017, at 9:00am, in Room 400.

How to file a witness slip:

Log on to the ILGA Dashboard at my.ilga.gov

Click on “Senate”, click on “Committee Hearings”

Under the Scheduled Senate Committee Hearings, click on “Week”

Click on the “Criminal Law” button (under view hearing details)

Click on the Create Witness Slip Button

I. IDENTIFICATION: Enter your personal information. Enter “NA” for the Firm/Business or Agency and Title fields unless you are officially representing an organization.

II. REPRESENTATION: Enter “Myself” unless representing an organization.

III. POSITION: Unless instructed otherwise for a particular bill leave the description field at its default value “Original Bill”. Indicate your position by selecting the “Opponent” button.

IV. TESTIMONY: Select the “Record of Appearance Only” button.

If filing manually, complete the Captcha challenge and agree to the ILGA Terms of Agreement.

Then click Create Slip.

You know we can beat the gun lobby and the legislators who do their bidding in Springfield. Please share this request with all your networks. I will post this on our website and facebook page so you can quickly share the information.

I will keep you informed on the status of the bill. The next email will ask you to make some phone calls and office visits. Thanks in advance for your help.

Kathleen at G-PAC Illinois
Please donate here to keep us working.

http://gpac.nationbuilder.com/

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Rick Ryan

As the Lake County State’s Attorney, I am honored and humbled every day to lead the fight against crime, and to strive to ensure equal and just treatment under the law. I have been an attorney for twenty-two years – and each of those years has made me a stronger and smarter advocate for people, for ideas, and for the principles that unite us all.

I am so proud to lead an office of 140 dedicated colleagues who serve the public by prosecuting crime, advocating for victims, and planning crime prevention programs. I am also proud to work with hundreds of Lake County police officers on a daily basis to connect with every community and to develop comprehensive, holistic plans to respond to the mental health and economic crisis that arose from the COVID-19 pandemic.

On one particular day, July 4, 2022, I was saddened, inspired, and motivated by the bravery of so many people. We will always stand with the victims and honor the police and other first responders who ran toward the danger. Just as so many heroes that day thought only of themselves, I also witnessed the prosecutors in my office answer the call to serve survivors and their community – even on one of its darkest days.

Every moment that I have been your legal representative, I have worked tirelessly to oversee prosecutions and to implement policies that make my family and my neighbors safer in the short term and in the long term. That is the job of the State’s Attorney: to prosecute, to innovate, and to strategically plan.

I was raised in a small town. My parents are teachers, and from them, I learned that everyone must be treated equally and that America’s sacred mission is to provide a political, economic, and legal system that allows anyone to prosper regardless of the circumstances of their birth. After graduating from Knox College and the University of Chicago Law School, I spent two years at a first-rate civil law firm in Chicago where I learned that hard work and attention to detail on every case mean the difference between success and failure.

With my wonderful wife Stephanie, I am raising my two sons, Sam and Teddy, in Lake County. Nothing is more important to me than my family’s safety and I bring that passion and determination to protect all families with me to work every day.

I joined the Lake County Public Defender’s Office in 2003 and started my own law firm in 2009. From 2003 until 2020, I watched the Lake County legal system fail to prioritize violent crime, prevent wrongful prosecutions, or address racial disparities.

So, in 2019, I decided to run for State’s Attorney so that I could serve our community by improving a local legal system that cared more about covering up its mistakes and biases than uncovering new and innovative ways to help people.

I won the 2020 election, and became the first Democrat to hold this position in 40 years. Bringing in a new party wasn’t as important as ending 40 years of one mindset that had forgotten the people and that had failed to act urgently to develop new strategic plans to prevent crime while also ensuring that each prosecution is smart, moral, and just.

We have followed through on our promises. We have built the first-ever violent crimes unit, increased prosecutors in our domestic violence division, and vastly upgraded our cyber lab. Now, we have top-notch software and personnel to finally keep up with those who would exploit others.

We have been awarded a large federal grant to bring the first ever Human Trafficking Task Force to Lake County. We have deepened our investment in people by bringing in more victim specialists and raising the salaries of many of our prosecutors.

But the work goes on. We must expand our prevention efforts that are starting with the Gun Violence Prevention Initiative launched in 2022. And we know that the opioid crisis touches thousands of lives throughout this country.

I am proud to serve on the Executive Board of the Lake County Opioid Initiative which has been working tirelessly since its founding in 2012 to reverse a devastating trend of increased overdoses. In 2022, our office was part of a national settlement against opioid manufacturers and distributors.

As an attorney of 22 years, I have committed my life to helping people, and I have conducted over 70 jury trials in Lake County, and handled appeals that have culminated in over 20 oral arguments before the appellate court and Supreme Court of Illinois.

I see my time in this office as the next phase of helping a community that I love and where I have chosen to raise my family. In my first term, we have made Lake County safer and fairer through just prosecutions, constitutional policing, and innovative crime prevention policies.