Despite a lot of hard work on the pro-gun-rights side,
Amendment 1 to
SB1657 Gun Dealer Licensing passed in the Illinois Senate last week with the bare minimum votes necessary. It will now be considered by the House when they come back into session next week.
This loss is very disappointing, and there were normally reliable Senators and manufacturers who were unhelpful in defeating this bill in the Senate. They are not the issue now. Killing this in the House next week is.
Why This is a Bad Bill
This bill contains many toxic elements as well as elements that are potentially toxic but as of now undefined:
- Fees to be determined by rule. A quick guess is that 15 inspectors would be required to inspect 1500 FFL's statewide. At $100,000 fully loaded salary cost per inspector, the 1500 FFL's would see a fee of $3000 each over a three-year period. No doubt, a $3000 fee would discourage some of the 1500 FFL's to abandon the business, raising the cost per remaining FFL, and these costs will have to be passed along to customers.
- Security requirements to be determined by rule. One size fits all security makes no sense. Will they require a particular brand of video camera? Will they require a particular type of lock? We don't know, because the rule hasn't been made.
- Training requirements will be determined by rule. They could require 60 hours of training per employee. On the dealer's dime.
- You as a Law Abiding individual are limited to 9 "transfers" per year, but "transfer" is to be determined by law. Is that 9 purchases? 9 Sales? 9 of either? 9 of both? It's to be determined by rule, and you could be conceivably limited to fewer than 1 purchase or sale per month, and the State has now established a limit on how many firearms you may purchase or sell.
- Anyone who purchases a firearm will be subjected to warrantless electronic surveillance by the authorities. Additionally, personal information of all legal gun buyers will be gathered and electronically indexed by state agencies. They could if they wanted to create Illinois' own version of a 4473. They could require the reporting of every gun sold and to whom we sold it.
If enacted,
this bill will drive many small FFL's out of business and raise costs for larger shops like Maxon, all while doing nothing to address the gang violence problem in certain precincts of Cook County.
What We Are Doing?
Northern Illinois Dealers including Maxon are contributing financially to put more "boots on the ground" in Springfield next week. Dealer principals will contact key representatives individually and in person as well. This is an all-hands-on-deck effort.
What You Can Do
The House is out of session this week,
so contact their District Office this week.
The House is in session next week, so
contact their Springfield Office next week.
Scroll Down to the Representative District # for your Rep's contact info For example:
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Politely tell the person who answers the phone that you are a law-abiding firearm owner and that you are opposed to SB1657 and that you hope the representative will vote "NO" on the bill when it comes to the floor.
The anti-gun side notched a win, and they are energized. Don't let them win and infringe on your rights, privacy, and ability to buy and sell your property.