University of Chicago doctors call for passage of RIFL Act targeting gun manufacturers

In just four years, doctors at the University of Chicago Medical Center's trauma unit have treated more than 4,600 people for firearm injuries. They now want gun manufacturers to help pay for the cost of gun violence.

On Tuesday, doctors joined lawmakers on the South Side to push for the passage of the "Responsibility in Firearms Legislation" or RIFL Act.

They said the proposal would require firearm manufacturers to help cover the billions of dollars of direct and indirect gun violence costs that occur each year in Illinois.

"Firearm manufacturers should not get to profit from the violence their products enable and walk away from the wreckage; not in Illinois, not anymore," said Illinois state Rep. Kevin John Olickal (D-Skokie), chief sponsor of the RIFL Act in the Illinois House.

The legislation would require firearm manufacturers to be licensed in Illinois. Money collected from licensing fees would go into a victim fund for related expenses. 

Organizers said the RIFL Act would make Illinois the first state to hold gun manufacturers financially responsible for violence incurred by their weapons. This also includes resources for survivors and community violence intervention.

Advocates estimate firearm injuries cost Illinois taxpayers and survivors almost $20 billion a year in law enforcement response and recovery expenses.  

Doctors said they're tired of seeing the long-term consequences of gun violence for patients and their families, and the emotional toll it takes on health care workers.

"For far too long, gun manufacturers have profited from the conditions and plight of Black and Brown communities in Illinois and across this country. Today, as eyewitnesses of the consequences of firearm injuries, we say enough," said University of Chicago Medicine surgical resident Anthony Douglas.

Opponents of the RIFL Act, including the National Rifle Association, have called the RIFL Act unconstitutional, and argued it's unfair to make manufacturers pay, especially in cases where firearms are legally purchased and then illegally sold and used for crimes.

The RIFL Act has been introduced in both the Illinois House and Illinois Senate, and both versions have dozens of sponsors, but the legislation has yet to get a vote in either chamber.