Illinois State Rep. Kathleen Willis (D) is pushing a 400 percent price increase for the Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) cards law-abiding citizens need to acquire a gun.
Capitol News Illinois reports Willis’ price hike is contained in an amendment she added to Senate Bill 1966, which passed out of the House Judiciary with support from Democrats only.
Willis’ amendment would also require FOID card holders to submit fingerprints and would reduce the validity of the card from 10 years to 5 years.
Willis, who enjoys the support of Michael Bloomberg-funded Moms Demand Action, went so far as to make clear she would support fingerprinting every resident of Illinois “if it makes the state safer”:
The NRA-ILA reports that Willis’ amendment also requires that “FOID applicants pay all costs for fingerprinting and processing the background check, totaling around $150 on top of the application fee.” If you do the math, that takes the price of a FOID card from $10 to $200.
Willis’ amendment would also empower courts to direct police to seize firearms from individuals with a revoked FOID card and would criminalize private gun transfers.
Nothing in Willis’ amendment would slow or even hinder gang members and street criminals from acquiring the guns they use to wreak havoc on Chicago’s South Side. But her amendment could make gun ownership cost prohibitive for a single mom who is trying to protect her children from the violence that characterizes that part of the city.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.