If this sort of thing keeps up, I might have to stop referring to the Illinois General Assembly as the Illinois "Politburo." The bill I have been railing against for the last two days, HB 2760, the ridiculous "lost or stolen" reporting requirement bill, which would require reporting the loss or theft of a gun to not one, but two police agencies, went down in flames a few minutes ago, receiving only forty-seven of the required fifty-nine votes (to sixty-four "No" votes).
Common sense, notoriously uncommon in Illinois politics, prevails (for once). All I need to make my satisfaction complete is to hear the anguished bleating of the citizen disarmament herbivores.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Illinois 'Lost or Stolen' bill goes down in flames
Stumble it!
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I guess I'm not totally clear on why you hated this bill. It's kind of moot now, but what's wrong with telling the cops your gun is missing?
In the military, if someone loses a gun there is a lot of paperwork and possibly punishment involved.
To steal a line from Spiderman, "With great power comes great responsibility" ... right?
There are several reasons for my hatred of this kind of legislation.
One is the requirement to report the loss or theft to not one police agency, but two (state and local).
Another is, how is it supposed to help? If the police are told I lost a gun, what are they going to do, put out an APB (and if they do, how is that going to make finding the gun more likely)? Yes, I understand that the idea is to stop so-called "straw purchases," but those are already illegal. Besides, a straw purchaser could simply make the illegal transfer and then report the gun stolen.
It's not that I have a problem with telling the cops my gun is missing--it's being compelled by law to do so. I can think of no other kind of law that imposes legal obligations on a crime victim.
"With great power comes great responsibility"--fine, but if we're claiming that possession of a firearm conveys "great power," then the theft of the firearm means that said great power, and attendant great responsibility, has gone with it. This places the responsibility where it belongs--with the actual criminal. Maybe we should make the thief report the theft.
By the way, keep in mind that "lost or stolen" laws cannot apply to people who own the guns illegally in the first place, because such a requirement would violate their Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination.
Does Illinois have gun registration? Yes, I know that there is a FOID, but does it register make, model and serial number? If not then how would the enforce this law, unless they are trapping NICS data and creating a de facto registration database. Naturally, registration might be the next, desired law.
Gun registration? Yes and no.
No, in that you don't have to register your guns with the police; but yes, in that in a purchase from a licensed dealer in Illinois, not only is there the federal NICS check, there's also a state police check--and unlike the feds, the state police can (and do) keep the information permanently.
The question of registration in Illinois is, I think, gets an answer of, "sort of".
Every time an FFL loses or forfiets their license, the ATF takes all their records.
Every time someone purchases more than one handgun within a week, it is reported. I'm not sure if this is a State or Federal law.
Any family that has more than one FOID cardholder has all gun purchases reported.
The claim that the background check does not report what you are buying, only that you are buying, is misleading. When the ATF is doing an audit, they are looking at your records.
Between Federal and State, as well as some local, governments, registration has a fluid definition.
Even if you live somewhere other than Illinois, there are other forms of it. CCW is a registration of sorts. In some places you have to give the government the information on the firearm(s) you intend to carry.
In Illinois, the people are starting to grumble. County by county the people are making it known...don't keep voting to infringe further. Well, there is that little county called Crook.
Perhaps we should wear T-shirts that say, "Disarmed by decree of tyranny". That would look good over a bullet proof vest.
I'm preparing to move. I'll try to miss Illinois, but I'm not sure it's possible.
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