SPRINGFIELD – A measure that would require anyone in Illinois owning a firearm to be fingerprinted appears to have stalled in an Illinois Senate committee Friday, the Illinois State Rifle Association is saying.
"Today there was a Senate Judiciary Hearing without SB 1966 being considered," Richard Pearson, the ISRA's Executive Director said in an advisory. "The bill will remain held in this committee, and the spring legislative session will end at Midnight without passage of this bill in the Illinois Senate."
"Thank you for your efforts during this legislative session, your support was vital in halting this dangerous legislation," Pearson wrote to gun rights supporters.
Wednesday, the measure titled "Fix the FOID" act, was sponsored by Democrat state Rep. Kathleen Willis. It passed the Illinois House earlier this week with a 62 to 52 vote.
The regular session ends Friday night at midnight. After tonight, any measure will require a three-fifths vote to pass to the Governor's desk.
SB 1966 would have required fingerprinting of anyone attempting to acquire a FOID card and would have shortened the FOID card renewal from 10 years to five, while doubling the ID card fee, among other requirements the ISRA resisted.
Here's how the Illinois House members voted on HB 1966:
Effingham County board member David Campbell explained SB 1966 to the National Rifle Association:
The Chicago cops tell me they have plenty of gun laws, they just can’t use them. The infamous state’s attorney up there-and those before her- will not prosecute gun violations. So the cops take the guns and the thugs go free (after maybe a night in jail). A FOID card means nothing to the hoods. They ignore the law and only honest citizens go through the effort to get a FOID. If Chicago is serious about gun violence, the state’s attorney should prosecute gun crimes, the cops should be allowed to do stop and frisk, and ICE should be only a phone call away. But it is easier to just pass another law.
I can’t be happier with this proposed bill’s outcome. But wow, how much time was wasted on this proposed legislation when everyone with a brain knew it violated the Illinois constitution and was simply a bill designed by the hate filled democrats to persecute gunowners
This is great and we all need to thank the ISRA and NRA for the hard work they did to keep this bill from becoming law. We cannot let our guard down as democrats are definitely not done.
Yes, passing another useless law does nothing to deter crime, BUT it gives the politician who voted “yes” a chance to get onto the media and yell:
“LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! I DID SOMETHING!”
And that’s the REAL reason they back useless, crappy laws like this.