Issue Position: Gun Control

Issue Position

As a freshman legislator, Rob introduced a bill (HB5318) that became an important part of the Illinois Conceal Carry Legislation. His provision created an "automatic objection" to the application for a conceal and carry permit made by persons who had been arrested 5 or more times in the previous 7 years (for any reason) and by persons who had been arrested 3 or more times in the previous 7 years for gang-related activity. Any person whose application has been objected to must appear before a 7 panel license review committee which holds a hearing and decides whether to grant the license to the applicant. This automatic objection process helped make Illinois' Conceal Carry law into a "hybrid" Shall Issue/May Issue law, providing for a tool to deny licenses to people who repeatedly run afoul of the law, while at the same time ensuring that law abiding citizens would not have their rights infringed upon. Martwick's provision was widely backed by both 2nd Amendment and gun control advocates, and it received more votes than any other provision. Shortly after it became law, a known gang leader was denied a conceal carry permit due to this provision.

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