Expert says factors defining assault weapons in Illinois are sometimes trivial
LOCKPORT, Ill. (CBS) -- The Illinois assault weapons ban is now being reviewed by a federal appeals court after a downstate judge ruled it unconstitutional.
But just what factors are put into use in defining an assault weapon in Illinois? Some say the differences between what is considered an assault weapon and what is not can be trivial.
A threaded-barrel Taurus TX22, a semiautomatic weapon, is considered an assault weapon and illegal to purchase in the state of Illinois. But the Smith & Wesson 500—billed as one of the most powerful revolvers in the world today—is not considered an assault weapon and is legal to own in Illinois.
Firearms expert and private detective Sergio Serritella took CBS News Chicago to Guncology, the gun store and shooting range he owns in Lockport, to show what these weapons can do. Serritella also explained how a simple design difference determines what is an assault weapon under state law.
"Things like whether a stock has a thumb hole, things like whether a weapon has a pistol grip on it, has as no effect on the form or function of the weapon otherwise—just strictly cosmetic design differences," Serritella said.
A stack of Benelli 12-gauge shotguns may look the same at first glance—the only difference is that some pistol grip and some do not. The ones with the pistol grip are illegal in Illinois, while the ones without are legal.
U.S. District Judge Stephen McGlynn, who sits on the federal court in East Saint Louis, ruled the Illinois assault weapons ban unconstitutional last month. The judge wrote that the ban violates the Second and 14th amendments of the Constitution.
A federal appeals court is now reviewing the ban.
"The definition is so broad, and covers things that have no bearing on the mechanical function of firearms or the ballistic performance of ammunition, so a lot of the criteria that the State of Illinois uses to define something as an assault weapon strains logic," Serritella said.
Serritella showed an example of three rifles mounted on a wall. He said only one is considered an assault weapon in Illinois—because it has a barrel shroud to protect the shooter from a hot barrel.
"It actually makes the weapon safer," he said.
Meanwhile, former Chicago Police First Deputy Supt. Anthony Riccio says today, officers on the street are often outgunned.
"Thirty-four years ago, when I was a brand-new patrolman on the street, everybody had a revolver. You had six shots, maybe five shots, and that was it," Riccio said. "Now, we see these weapons that can fire 30, 40, 50 rounds with extended magazines."
Riccio said this is a danger to everyone.
"It's a threat to law enforcement. It's a threat to all of us quite frankly, but it's a threat to law enforcement on the street as well," he said. "We're no longer the dominant force when it comes to firearms on the street."
Riccio said the solution lies with having a deterrent factor when it comes to the assault weapons ban—and that factor is putting people in jail when they break the law.
