Some La Salle County Board members are weighing whether local views on gun ownership need to be made clear to the state Legislature.

But first they want to make sure they are on the right course, so citizen viewpoints are being sought.

At Thursday's meeting of the County Board's Legislation and Rules Committee, members considered a resolution presented by Jack Leininger, R-Marseilles.

The resolution says gun ownership is guaranteed by the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and opposes proposed state legislation that "would ban the possession and use of firearms now employed by individual citizens of La Salle County."

The resolution -- which Leininger said was from the Illinois State Rifle Association, an affiliate of the National Rifle Association -- does not specify any particular legislation. But Leininger also provided a list of 10 legislative bills concerning gun control, ranging from a ban on assault weapons and .50 caliber rifles to outlawing the private sale of handguns. He also offered a state map showing the more than 60 counties that have approved the resolution.

Those proposed laws, Leininger said, were aimed at dealing with problems in Chicago.

"The bad people are still going to have their guns. Laws won't stop them. These bills don't affect anyone but the honest law-abiding citizens É

"I don't think we need Chicago legislators telling us what we can do and can't do with our guns downstate because they have a problem."

Most of the committee members present identified themselves as gun owners who believed citizens should be allowed to own guns. But nevertheless they had a variety of views on the proposed resolution.

George Gruenwald, D-LaSalle, does not necessarily disagree with the ban on assault rifles, although he agreed they would be a powerful option for hunters.

"There's no rabbit in the world that's going to outrun 30 rounds of lead flying at him."

Tom Ganiere, D-Ottawa, pointed out there is a decision pending before the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Parker v. District of Columbia that will decide whether the Second Amendment guarantees private gun ownership. He said he doubted whether weapons such as assault rifles were envisioned when the Second Amendment was created.

"If you take the context of when the Constitution was written, they had muzzle loaders."

Ganiere also suggested the issue be considered for an advisory referendum in November.

Allen Erberderis, R-Somonauk, said the state Legislature could act before November. But he said he did favor Leininger's suggestion the resolution be tabled until next month to see what community reaction would be, which the committee voted to do.