Posted on 02/14/2012 1:10:59 PM PST by marktwain
Illinois state Sen. Jeff Schoenberg (D-Evanston) has endorsed Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's proposal to create a statewide gun registry in order to decrease gun violence, according to a news release issued Friday.
Emanuel proposed requiring gun owners to register each handgun in their possession at a fee of $65 per gun. Currently, Chicago's gun control laws ban weapon sales in the city and prohibit people from taking guns out of their homes. For 28 years Chicago banned gun ownership entirely, until the U.S. Supreme Court overturned that policy in June 2010.
Prospective Illinois gun owners must obtain a firearm owner's identification card before purchasing any sort of gun, but Emanuel proposed that gun owners also register individual handguns, hoping it would help local law enforcement officials fight black market firearm transactions of lost or stolen guns, according to the news release.
The proposal, like many other gun control laws, is a contentious issue. Advocates of gun registration typically believe that fewer guns lead directly to less crime, though opponents may argue limiting private citizens' gun ownership will deter their ability to protect themselves against inevitable crime.
Richard Pearson of the Illinois State Rifle Association said he is opposed to the idea of creating a statewide gun registry because of the unconstitutional nature of the request and the exorbitant fees associated with registration.
"This will not fight crime at all," Pearson said. "Any criminal is not going to register their handgun. ... So the only people this affects are the law-abiding people of Illinois, and every Illinois person would have gone through an FBI background check when they buy a firearm of any type."
Although Colleen Daley, executive director of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, said she doesn't know if the proposed legislation will curb black-market gun sales, the law could provide for stricter punishments for those caught with illegal firearms, in turn deterring criminal possession of guns.
"If you get caught with an unregistered firearm and you get a felony, you're going to remember that," she said. "That's on your record."
Daley said she believes Emanuel's proposal is "a great idea" as a first step to solving gun violence problems throughout the state.
Both Pearson and Daley said the gun proposal controversy is not partisan, but opinions are split between upstate and downstate politicians. While the Chicago metropolitan area has historically supported gun control laws, southern Illinois politicians including state Sen. Michael Frerichs (D-Champaign)and William Haine (D-Alton) tend to vote against them.
"In Illinois, it's not a Democrat or Republican issue," Daley said. "It's a northern versus southern Illinois issue. Historically, downstate is much more pro-gun than northwestern Illinois. I'm not going to speculate as to why."
Evanston Police spokesman Cmdr. Jay Parrott said it was too soon for EPD to determine whether it supports Emanual's proposal because gun control is a complex issue, and he isn't certain whether Chicago street gangs currently acquire their firearms from downstate gun launderers.
"I think we need to take a more in-depth look at how these guns were acquired ... to see if the majority of these guns are from outside of Chicago and are from Illinois residents before I can make an accurate comment as to whether we support this proposal," Parrott said. "In essence, I think what's happening is they're going to require all gun owners to register their guns and pay a fee per gun. I mean, for somebody that owns multiple handguns, that can become an exorbitant amount of money."
It is crazy to set up a huge expensive bureaucratic system, require everyone to jump though hoops and prove that they are *not* criminals in order to try, ineffectively, to prevent the few individuals who are not responsible, from having legal access to guns. This is a failed paradigm, and it should be abandoned. To accept the idea that the all gun sales should be monitored by the government, and only allowed to those it deems satisfactory is fundamentally wrong.
The entire idea of the enterprise has always been the death of a thousand cuts, where the restrictions on who can buy, and where, and how and what are continually increased until the number of gun owners is reduced to political insignificance.
I guess Rahm hasn’t paid sufficient big buck penalties on behalf of the city of Chicago.
This is an outrage.
And I’m sure all the Chicago gangbangers will be the first ones to register, and pay the fee for, all of their weapons./s
:: the law could provide for stricter punishments for those caught with illegal firearms, in turn deterring criminal possession of guns. ::
Uuuh-huh, sure. A gang-banger, when considering his drive-by mayhem will drop the plan because he might get the ^additional^ violation of being in possession of an unregistered firearm on top of the 15 other felony counts.
Talk about your “scared straight”..../sarc
:: the government knows all, controls all, and should be doing so. ::
Exactly how the sheeple have ben voting since the Great Depression.
If the robbed have no guns, and the robber does ... the robbed gives up the money ... no shots fired, no "gun violence"
Rapes, robberies and murders still occur, and even escalate ... just with less "gun violence"
... and the idiots buy into it.
Street gangs will have to sell more drugs so they can afford to pay the fee for their guns.
So I'll register all my handguns when they both personally come to me to get the serial numbers. And I suggest they bring a lunch, 'cause it'll be a loooooooong day.
I'm a BATF Licensed Collector and I follow all their laws and regs with my guns and that's enough. Period, end. So ESAD 'Rahm-Father'
Very nice illustration.
Schoenberg is not running for re-election this year. He probably supports this anyway, but his not running probably gives him added eagerness to speak out.
With Chicago’s past of either gangster or criminal violence, it’s not surprising that its leaders are squeamish about allowing even normal access to firearms.
Chicago and Illinois will be the last City and State to allow concealed carry, long after everyone else has already done it.
Now, he has something to negotiate with. “Drop the shall issue, and I will drop the registration.”
Don’t post the picture with the bank account coding unblurred.
In some ways, this is worse than the Canadian system. In Canada, at least one who is licensed can register a pistol (if it has a legal barrel-length) free (no fee), and one can even do it over the internet — and from outside the country.
$65 per gun for registration, as proposed for IL, is preposterous.
On the other hand, gun usage should be licensed to ensure competence in safe handling, and to screen out felons. Registering guns is questionable; licensing people makes sense.
[I wish that we were stricter is licensing drivers. About half our drivers are below acceptable competency. Anyone who requires a special parking place because they are too feeble to walk a short distance on a level, paved surface, is probably too weak and uncoordinated to be driving a vehicle at all.]
As it is now, it is virtually impossible in some places to get a pistol-carry permit: IL, NJ, most of CA, MD, MA, and NYC. Some other states also make it impossible for non-residents to get permits, or they charge intentionally unreasonable fees.
Licensing does not bother me. What bothers me is being told that it is useless even to apply, because no one will be permitted in NJ. That is not an honest system.
You are spot on, but I doubt that this will work. There are too many black aldermen who know that there are "good guns" and "bad guns". Rahm's fighting a defensive withdrawal. IL will have CC. He knows the dam is going to break.
Am I understanding you correctly?
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