Emanuel to push for state-wide handgun registry (IL)

wbez.org ^ | 9 February, 2012 | Alex Keefe

[marktwain]

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants lawmakers to require that all handguns in Illinois be registered with the state, or gun owners could face felony charges.

A statewide gun registry is key in helping solve Chicago crimes that involve handguns from outside the city, and would also help crack down on gun trafficking, Emanuel is expected to argue Thursday.

Under Emanuel's proposal, handgun owners would have to pay $65 for a registration certificate from the state, which would function much like the title to a car. Illinois law currently requires that gun owners and shooters have a firearm owners identification card, which works like a drivers license. But the guns themselves are not registered at the state level.

Emanuel is set to lay out his plan Thursday at a center for at-risk youth on Chicago's South Side, according to administration sources.

The handgun registration certificate would include information about the owner, the make and model of the gun, as well as where and when the firearm was bought. Registration applicants would also need a valid firearm owners identification card.

Owners and dealers would be required to notify Illinois State Police whenever a handgun changes hands. The registration certificate would last for five years, and cost $25 to renew.

Handgun owners would also have to tell the state if their gun gets lost or stolen, or they could face misdemeanor charges, according to the mayor's proposal. People caught in possession of an unregistered gun would be slapped with a felony.

Chicago's tough gun ordinance, which was passed in 2010 after the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the city's outright ban on handguns, already makes owners pay a fee and register firearms with the city. But Emanuel will now push for a statewide handgun registry because the majority of guns recovered at crime scenes in Chicago - about 56 percent - come from outside city limits, but within the state, according to data from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that were provided by the Emanuel administration.

As the mayor of Chicago, Emanuel cannot propose legislation in the Illinois General Assembly, but he can tap allies in the state legislature to usher his bill through both houses. It's still unclear who would sponsor the bills at the state level, however.

The Chicago mayor's push for a statewide handgun registration database is sure to draw criticism from gun rights advocates and some downstate lawmakers. The city is still fighting litigation over some provisions of its firearms ordinance. And on Monday, the Second Amendment Foundation vowed to take its fight against the state's ban on carrying concealed weapons to the U.S. Supreme Court.

[Graybeard58]

A “twofer” for liberals, guns registered and a $65 fee to do so. I don’t see that fee staying at $65 for very long, that’s for sure. For liberals, what’s not to like about Rahm’s proposal?

Pray for our adoption procedure to hurry up and happen for the two kids we are adopting, so my family can do some serious real estate shopping in another state (probably Missouri).

We have lived, worked and raised a family here for more than 40 years and I no longer have any hope that Illinois will allow it’s citizens their God given rights to defend themselves with any kind of “carry” law.

We are beyond sick of this high tax liberal crap hole and yearn for freedom.

[stevie_d_64]

Not only do you have register them, they make you pay a fee $65 to do so...Is that per firearm???

KMA Rahm...

But hey, Chicago, you get what you voted for...hehehe

[Tubac414]

This is so BS. As well all know this does nothing to lower crime rate. Only a well armed neighbor hood can deter crime