CHICAGO – Illinois gun manufacturers are developing a strategy to address calls for a state assault weapons ban.

The owner of Geneseo-based ArmaLite tells Lee Enterprises newspapers in Illinois that the gun makers are considering possible action.

ArmaLite's Mark Westrom says there shouldn't be a rush to judgment following the shooting deaths of 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school. And he says the issue of semi-automatic weapons might better be addressed at the federal level than by Illinois lawmakers.