A needle-exchange bill with bipartisan support in the House, died in the Senate, leaving Shot in the Dark and other programs on the legal fringes ...

The bill is the brainchild of Rep. Tony Rivero, R-Peoria, who apparently thinks we have an epidemic of gun owners who are being branded as felons after they accidently fire their guns.

“We can’t keep ignoring these people or relying on our law enforcement to deal with them because that’s not a good use of their time,” the bill's sponsor, Rep. Tony Rivero, R-Peoria, said ...

Rep. Tony Rivero who crafted the measure, said the new powers are justified. “I’m a believer in our system of government,’’ said the Peoria Republican.