The provisions are: increasing mandatory minimum prison sentences from two years to three years for felony gun convictions and requiring convicted felons to serve at least 85 percent of their sentences. Nearly 69 percent and 65 percent supported the provisions, respectively.

From The Paul Simon Institute:

Some background: House Bill 5672 seeks to enhance penalties for certain violations of laws concerning unlawful use or possession of weapons.  It is sponsored by Democratic State Rep. Michael Zalewski of Riverside and calls for increased prison sentences for certain gun crimes from two years to three years. 

The bill also requires at least 85 percent of certain gun-related-crime prison sentences to be served, a provision called “Truth in Sentencing” by bill supporters.  Current law requires 50 percent of these sentences to be served. 

Many local and statewide officials support these proposals as a way to curb violent crime in the state, particularly Chicago.

Check out these interactive charts to see how Illinoisans’ support for these measures were divided.

The poll was conducted Sept. 23 to Oct. 15 and contains the responses from 1,006 registered Illinois voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.

The Paul Simon Institute also conducted polls asking Illinoisans about their attitudes toward police. They asked respondents if they felt that their local police department represented their community, if they felt their police department protected them well, if they felt police responded to their calls quickly, whether or not they thought a police department’s racial makeup should be similar to the community they served, whether the police served all members of the community well and if police should have military weapons. Questions like these have been discussed over the past several months nationally and especially in a community close to Illinois as the residents of Ferguson, Mo. wait for the jury’s decision on whether or not police officer Darren Wilson will be charged in the death of teenager Michael Brown.

In total, 58 percent said they believed their police department was racially representative of their communities, 72.8 percent rated their police department’s protection as excellent or good, 71.6 percent said their police department was excellent or good at responding to calls quickly, 47.8 percent said that a police department’s racial makeup should be similar to its community’s, 76.3 percent said their police department responded to the needs of the whole community and 27.8 percent said police should have military weapons such as assault rifles and tanks,

Illinoisans’ responses were further broken down by region, neighborhood composition, race, gender and political ideology and party affiliation. In general, the responses to the questions broke down across demographics as would be stereotypically expected, with a few exceptions. More men, white people and Republicans felt that police should have military weapons than women, black people and Democrats did. More men, white people and Republicans felt that their police departments protected the needs of the whole community more than women, black people and Democrats did. The breakdowns fell similarly for whether or not people felt their police department mirrored their community’s racial makeup.

Check out the full breakdown of the responses.

 

NEXT ARTICLE: Illinoisans compile a long to-do list for Gov.-elect Rauner

 

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