Posted on 02/16/2012 6:51:47 AM PST by marktwain
The program that issues mandatory ID cards to gun owners in Illinois would be discontinued under legislation proposed by state Sen. Sam McCann, R-Carlinville.
Senate Bill 3340 would repeal the Firearms Owner’s Identification Act. McCann said the act prevents law-abiding citizens from exercising their rights under the Second Amendment.
Residents must pay a $10 processing fee when they submit their FOID card application to the Illinois State Police. A FOID card lasts for 10 years.
“It just punishes the law-abiding public,” McCann said, adding that the law doesn’t stop criminals from getting their hands on guns.
McCann said his bill would not eliminate the background checks that gun buyers undergo when they purchase weapons at stores.
“This would not mean selling to convicted felons or the mentally disturbed or anything like that. It doesn’t take away the waiting period,” McCann said.
Brian Malte, director of state legislation for the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence, said repealing the FOID Act would be a step backward in efforts to keep guns out of the hands of criminals.
Malte said criminals do buy guns from licensed owners and at gun shows, and the background checks that state and federal law require prevent them from doing so.
“The FOID card is a good way to weed out dangerous people, but more needs to be done,” Malte said.
“We need to go forward, not backwards.”
Another concern of McCann’s is the apparent backlog of FOID applications at the Illinois State Police. McCann said he has received many complaints from constituents who would turn in the application but would not receive the FOID card within the 30 days police are required to process them by.
Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, agreed with McCann’s sentiments.
“It can take 75 to 80 days to get a FOID card,” Pearson said. “The law requires them to issue it in 30 days, and they don’t do it.”
McCann and Pearson said state police do not have the necessary manpower to process the applications on time, and the backlog will only worsen if Gov. Pat Quinn makes more budget cuts.
McCann said he was unaware of similar legislation proposed by Rep. Adam Brown, R-Decatur. House Bill 3796 would get rid of the expiration dates on FOID cards, so in effect, they would last for life.
Brown’s bill is also targeted at eliminating the backlog of FOID applications at the state police.
“Times change. We don’t need FOID cards. We never needed it, in my opinion,” McCann said. “It was a compromise by a previous General Assembly, and it’s a compromise that has outlived its usefulness.”
McCann said the compromise was years ago between Chicago-area lawmakers who wanted a statewide gun registry and downstate lawmakers who didn’t want one. That led to the FOID act’s passage in 1968.
But Chicago never seemed satisfied with that compromise, McCann said, pointing to the recent push by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel for a statewide handgun registry.
Emanuel, who proposed the idea last week, said the registry would help the Chicago Police Department trace guns that come from outside the city. Chicago has a gun registry, but the state does not. Malte said the Brady Campaign supports gun-registration efforts like Emanuel’s proposal.
“At the end of the day, the only reason why the FOID card exists is to build a singular, go-to database of gun owners in Illinois,” McCann said. “It’s antiquated, and we just need to reduce the infringement upon the enumerated rights of the Second Amendment.”
David Thomas can be reached at 782-6292.
How novel: a politician who tells the truth.
Of course, in Illinois, he will be shouted down.
Another state that is on my "never-set-foot-in-again" list.
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