Stringent gun controls such as gun owner licensing, waiting periods, an “assault weapons” ban, and other prohibitions/requirements failed to prevent 100 people from being shot over Father’s Day weekend in Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s (D) Chicago.
Some of the gun controls, such as the Firearm Identification (FOID) card requirement, are state level, while others, such as the “assault weapons” ban, are county level.
The state mandates that would-be gun buyers first acquire a FOID card, and the process of getting it requires a background check. This is a defacto universal background check system wholly separate from the vetting process one goes through to purchase a gun or obtain a concealed carry permit.
The Giffords Law Center notes, “Illinois law provides that no person may acquire or possess any firearm or ammunition without a valid Firearm Owner’s Identification (“FOID”) card.”
The Illinois State Police list the process for buying a gun in Illinois:
• Buyer must possess a valid FOID card.
• Buyer must verify local firearm ordinance requirements.
• Buyer must display valid FOID card to FFL prior to handling firearm.
• Buyer must complete Federal Form ATF 4473.
• FFL notifies the Illinois State Police (ISP), Firearms Services Bureau to perform
a background check in accordance with state and federal laws.
• FFL receives an “Approval” from ISP to transfer the firearm.
• Buyer must abide by the State of Illinois waiting period before taking possession
of the firearm. The waiting period for a long gun is 24 hours and 72 hours for a
hand gun.
• Upon taking possession of the firearm, the firearm must be unloaded and
enclosed in a case to transport.
The state also mandates a 72-hour waiting period for gun purchases and Firearms Restraining Orders, aka, a red flag law.
An Chicago-area “assault weapons” is a Cook County prohibition which also bans “high capacity” magazines.
Ironically, Democrats in Washington, DC, have pushed universal background checks, gun owner licensing, a red flag law, waiting periods, and a ban on “assault weapons” and “high capacity” magazines as a way to stop gun crime nationally. Over the weekend, these laws failed to prevent 100 people being shot in Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s (D) Chicago.
Fourteen of the Chicago shooting victims died from their wounds.
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 at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.