Illinois “Fix The FOID Act” legislation – Guns surrendered upon felony indictment, not conviction!

Illinois (ECWd) –

While nothing has been done to multiple County Sheriff’s involved in selling seized guns illegally, and deputies illegally buying those guns, it appears the Illinois General Assembly is moving forward with more important legislation.  (Numerous articles on the Sheriff’s gun sales can be found at this link)

The Illinois General Assembly Judiciary Committee voted on legislation yesterday that brings a claimed “Fix the FOID Act” legislation to the House Floor for debate (FOID- Firearms Owner Identification).   This bill originated in the Senate as SB 1966, a Public Defender Bail Program.  The original bill passed out of the Senate with a unanimous vote and was basically a one-page bill.

The bill was gutted and an amendment was filed by State Representative Kathleen Willis on May 15, 2019, which stripped all of the original language from the Senate Bill and renamed the bill “Fix the FOID Act”.  This bill changes gun laws in Illinois like nothing we have ever seen before, all masked in fixing the FOID act. This bill was assigned to the Judiciary Committee on May 20th, 2019 and passed out of that committee with a 12:7 vote on May 21, 2019.

The United States is not a democracy, contrary to what some have been taught. The US is a Constitutional Republic which is based on established laws and rights. Of those, a long-standing rule of law is that you are not guilty until proven so in a court of law.  Only upon such a conviction is a person subject to loss of certain rights.

Not in Illinois!  

How many have heard the phrase “A grand jury could indict a ham sandwich”?

This claimed fix to the FOID act contains some very disturbing language that now ensures gun owners have to surrender their property upon a felony indictment! (Page 83)

Let that sink in! 

If you were to be indicted for any felony, you would lose your property rights and Constitutional right to own a gun, in advance of any action in a court of law. So much for due process.

Conditions of probation and of conditional discharge would strip gun ownership of those under 21 if they have been convicted of a misdemeanor, other than a traffic offense!  (Page 93, 94)

While I don’t agree with the FOID Act as it stands for numerous reasons, we all know it does not take 133 pages to address the so-called “Fix” of this law.

While there are numerous Constitutional concerns in this bill, let a few of these sink in.

• Want to sell your property (gun)? – You must first GIVE your property to a licensed firearm dealer.  (Page 22) 
• Want to get your gun back because the buyer didn’t pass the background check? – Not happening until the seller passes a background check. If the seller does not pass the background check (or a glitch in the system mistakenly denies your background check), the FFL dealer is required to turn over YOUR PROPERTY to Law Enforcement within 24 hours.  (Page 23)
• Want to loan your property (Gun) to someone to hunt? – Not anymore as that would be considered a transfer of the gun and requires a background check.  The workaround is you have to be in their presence! (Page 25)
• Have a Developmental Disability on file with DHS?  – New background check calls for DHS files to be checked for developmental disabilities to obtain any prohibiting information, yet fails to define developmental disability nor does it define what is prohibiting information . (Page 33)
• Fingerprints to be required to exercise your Constitutional right to own a gun. So much for our 4th Amendment. (Page 41)
• You will be charged a fee for conducting the criminal history record check- no amount defined (Page 41)
• Claims you’re “entitled” to a FOID card…..upon payment of $50.00 (up from $10.00), and applicable fees that are NOT defined. (Page 42)
• 1,000% increase for FOID card fee per year. What was $10 for a ten-year FOID card ($1 a year), would now become $50 for five years($10 a year) – ($1.00 X 1,000%=$10.00) Yes we did the math as we know our education system has failed us in that area so we wanted to make sure everyone understood how we came to that percentage.  (Page 44)
• You “may” petition the court to transfer your gun to another person if you were convicted of a felony.  So the court will decide what happens with your gun if you’re convicted of a felony, not you.  (Page 82 )

The current General Assembly is going to debate and vote on this bill that will strip a person of their Constitutional right before being found guilty in a court of law.

If you understand the importance of the rule of law and our founding documents, the US Constitution and Bill of Rights, I urge you to get on the phone and contact each and every State Representative and let them know this bill is a clear violation of our established rights on several fronts.

If they can take away your Constitutional 2nd Amendment Rights, what stops them from taking any of your other rights?

Constitutional Concerns:

• 2nd Amendment –Right to Bear Arms
• 4th Amendment -The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures
• 5th Amendment – cannot be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; 
• 8th Amendment –no excessive fines imposed

Only in Illinois!

You can download the Amendment at this link or view below.

Amendment 1 SB1966

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