Update 6:00 pm January 10
Egads! We are spreading "Disinformation" according to the Governor. I guess we have his attention. We attempt in this post to measure the scale of non-compliance because we don't have the actual numbers.
Guess what? He does. The ISP could tell him what proportion of FOID cards have been used in a background check inquiry (because of a firearm purchase). Heck, they could even tell him how many "rifle" inquiries versus others. But if they have, he's not talking. Why not? Because this registry has been rejected overwhelmingly by Illinois gun owners and the numbers are, or at least should be, embarrassing for him.
He goes on to claim that Illinois is safer because the law-abiding cannot purchase certain firearms, magazines, and accessories. Pray tell, Mr. Governor, how is Illinois made safer by disarming the most law-abiding cohort in society, with a law that doesn't target the law-breakers?
Again from the Washington Post: "Lawful gun owners commit less than a fifth of all gun crimes, according to a novel analysis released this week (2016) by the University of Pittsburgh."... "They found that in approximately 8 out of 10 cases, the perpetrator was not a lawful gun owner but rather in illegal possession of a weapon that belonged to someone else. The researchers were primarily interested in how these guns made their way from a legal purchase — at a firearm dealer or via a private sale — to the scene of the crime."
Release the numbers, Mr. Governor.
Wash Post; can't get past paywall this time, but you can search: New evidence confirms what gun rights advocates have said for a long time about crime.
Update 4:30 PM January 8
It has been pointed out in some comments that there are households where one individual holds a FOID and owns a firearm and another family member also has a FOID just for legal/safety reasons. That's fair, but even if every gun owning FOID holder has an accompanying non-owning FOID holder, which seems absurd, comliance is a pitiful 8.4%.
It appears to us that compliance with the PICA affidavit (AWB Registry) was astonishingly low, much lower than the already low rates of compliance in other states like New York and Connecticut. Here's our estimate of compliance and why we think it is so low.
Some Facts and Data:
That Washington Post study examined only AR-15 rifles. Sponsors of and advocates for this bill have bragged about how broad it is. So beyond the 500,000 AR-15 rifle owners in Illinois, other effected owners include those that have:
At Maxon, we used sell approximately 5 AR style rifles for each AK patterned rifle, so add another 100,000 to the list of banned rifle owners.
We're now at 600,000 owners.
Let's say that with the other banned guns, that adds another 20% to the AR owning count.
We're now at 700,000 owners.
There is no requirement to register magazines, and the act does not mention full-auto. Yes, if a full auto is a selective fire device, the semi-auto capability would require registration, but it's obvious that these politicians have no idea what they are talking about.
Nearly every county sheriff and most of the county State's Attorneys have stated that they will not enforce this Act. Residents of those counties have little incentive to register.
The act is highly offensive to otherwise law-abiding Illinois gun owners. It is a mess of legislation put into law:
“The British follow all the laws, good and bad, the French ignore all the laws, and the Americans follow the good ones and ignore the bad ones"
Non-compliance with unjust laws: It's as American as apple pie.
Here we have a Governor who is said to have aspirations to higher (national) office, yet his signature piece of legislation is being met with mass non-compliance.
Here we have a department of State Police who can't tell you what to register or when, and whose opinions are largely irrelevant as compared to those of the prosecutors and judges who would be charging and trying anyone with PICA violations.
We live in interesting times.
In our next post, we will outline the likely path and timetable through the courts, and we remain confident as plaintiffs in court against this law that it will be overturned.
Stay tuned.
Please support our efforts if you are able. Thank you.