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Moms Demand Action Plans For Veto Session, Wear Orange

Karen Irvin
Attendees write on signs during McLean County Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense's Wear Orange event in June 2018.

Fix the FOID was among the bills left on the Illinois Senate floor at the close of session last weekend. But the McLean County chapter of Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense In America said it's not giving up.

Sarah Breeden is the co-legislative lead for the local Moms Demand Action.

Despite concerns over the fingerprinting provision of the measure, Breeden said it will have a chance at redemption during the fall veto session.

“The concept itself is something that we can all get behind, and then get some of those issues ironed out from the people who have different opinions about that,” she said.

Fix the FOID would require a point of sale background check for all gun sales.

“The problem with the FOID now is that the background check is not nearly as extensive as it should be,” Breeden said.

Under the measure, all FOID card background checks would include fingerprinting.

The measure also includes a provision requiring state police to seize firearms from owners with a revoked FOID card.

Credit Karen Irvin
Last year's Wear Orange event with the McLean County Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense chapter.

Wear Orange

McLean County Moms Demand Action will host a local event as part of a national effort to raise awareness of gun violence prevention efforts.

Karen Irvin, co-lead of the local Moms Demand Action chapter, said hosting a Wear Orange event is imperative “as we remember the 10 victims of gun violence in the past year, little more than a year, that we have had locally. And we want to raise awareness of gun violence and also honor the memory of each life that is lost or impacted by gun violence.”

Wear Orange started in 2013 following the killing of Hadiya Pendleton, a Chicago teen who fell victim to a stray bullet in a park.

Pendleton’s friends at a South Side Chicago high school decided to honor her memory by wearing orange—the color hunters wear to protect and make themselves seen in the woods.

“We want people in McLean County to realize that Moms Demand Action is not a group that cares only about mass shootings,” Irvin said. “We are not just motivated by the horror of a Parkland or a Sandy Hook. We care deeply about all gun violence, and when it hits home in our local community.”

The local Wear Orange event takes place from 10 to 12 on Saturday at Normal’s Anderson Park’s East Shelter.

Irvin and Breeden encourage all to attend to hear more about Moms Demand Action.

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Moms Demand Action Full Segment

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