Illinois Senator Wants to Imprison Gun Owners

Illinois gun
May 5, 2010

The Illinois General Assembly has passed HB 5832 a Bill that makes carrying a firearm in Illinois without a valid FOID card a mandatory 1-3 years in prison.

Under current law, carrying a weapon without a valid FOID card allowed for probation but once enacted the new law removes any and all chances of probation even for a first time offense. The Bill has yet to be signed by the Governor but it appears to be a done deal unless a grassroots effort is made to stop it.

The new law was sponsored in the Illinois Senate by Kirk Dillard, who was recently endorsed by the ISRA for Governor on the republican ticket.

HB5832 sounds like a strong tool to fight crime until you actually read the “Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon” Law in Illinois. Under section 24-1.6 the mere carrying of a firearm is considered an Aggravated offense. This includes carries on or about ones person or in any vehicle.

It is a victimless, damage-less, non-violent crime that will put a lot of Illinois gun owners in prison and may jeopardize over the road truckers and neighboring state friends for transporting their gun in violation of Illinois law, which in most states is only a ticketing offense.

Illinois is financially broke, Governor Quinn has already suggested that upwards of 10,000 prisoners be released from Illinois prisons.

The new law will add to the Illinois prison population thus incurring additional expense that the people of Illinois can not afford.

These types of laws ruin lives, yet the Daley machine is applauding the change.

The State has a history of dragging its feet on FOID card renewals. With the new law you better NOT be caught with a firearm and an expired FOID card or it’s a mandatory 1-3 years in an Illinois prison.

A d v e r t i s e m e n t

Chicago has always had a crime problem but after the passage of the FOID card in 1967 the Chicago homicide and crime rate steadily increased with a slight respite in 2004 when only 448 murders were committed, the lowest since 1965.

Currently the City of Chicago is being sued by residents wanting their second amendment right to be recognized. The case McDonald v. Chicago is before the Supreme Court with a decision expected to come later this summer.

Thanks to the new law if the Court does rule in favor of the people, gun ownership in Illinois will be with the expressed permission of the State.

Sadly I can’t find any evidence that the Illinois NRA affiliate ISRA tried to stop this bill. The bill wasn’t even listed on their legislative page.

I hope this isn’t another compromise stunt from the NRA/ISRA.

Links of interest:

http://cbs2chicago.com/politics/illinois.gun.law.2.1663475.html

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=072000050K24-1.6

http://www.elections.state.il.us/DistrictLocator/ContactInfo.aspx?id=210

http://ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?DocNum=5832&GAID=10&GA=96&DocTypeID=HB&LegID=51426&SessionID=76

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/2226346,6_1_NA03_DILLARD_S1-100503.article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Chicago

http://www.chicagoguncase.com

http://www.trapshooters.com/cfpages/thread.cfm?threadid=206427&Messages=129

http://cbs2chicago.com/local/prison.stateville.budget.2.1077666.html