Governor JB Pritzker FOIA on the 2/15/19 Aurora IL Shooting

On 3/22/19, one of our members submitted a Freedom Of Information Act for the following:

Well, as you can see, they granted the request (sort of).

Takeaways:

-Two days after the shooting, gun laws were already on the table (keep in mind this man was a convicted felon who was denied a Concealed & Carry license, but the process wasn’t followed in order to revoke his FOID card. He was also carrying a gun illegally in a gun free zone)

-The Governor’s office doesn’t know that an order of protection automatically means a revocation of FOID card (I’ll even use Gifford’s as a source)

https://lawcenter.giffords.org/domestic-violence-and-firearms-in-illinois/

Illinois law provides that a person who is subject to an existing order of protection, interim order of protection, emergency order of protection, or plenary order of protection issued under the Code of Criminal Procedure may not lawfully possess weapons under the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act.¹⁴

In  addition, a court may issue a civil order under the Illinois Domestic Violence Act prohibiting a person from possessing firearms if that person is subject to a protection order meeting the following criteria:

• the order was issued after a hearing of which such person received actual notice, and at which such person had an opportunity to participate;

• the order restrains such person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner of such person or child of such intimate partner or person, or engaging in other conduct that would place an intimate partner in reasonable fear of bodily injury to the partner or child; and

• the order (i) includes a finding that such person represents a credible threat to the physical safety of such intimate partner or child; or (ii) by its terms explicitly prohibits the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against such intimate partner or child that would reasonably be expected to cause bodily injury.

-Rep. Kathleen Willis was discussed, which in the aftermath she was behind (and supportive of) many of the gun control laws in the current session of the Illinois General Assembly

https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/guns-fingerprint-background-checks-foid-cards-illinois-aurora-shooting/

Three bills filed in the Illinois General Assembly would require authorities to collect fingerprints from people applying for state gun licenses or, alternatively, allow people seeking a state Firearms Owner’s Identification card to provide their fingerprints to the Illinois State Police as part of their background checks.

The latest was introduced this week by state Rep. Kathleen Willis, D-Northlake. It’s part of a package that would go beyond fingerprinting to also require background checks for private sales between individuals, reduce the time a FOID card is valid from the current 10 years to five before requiring a new application and require the state police to take steps to seize weapons from people whose gun licenses have been revoked. The bill also would give the state police greater discretion to deny permits to carry concealed firearms.

The state police acknowledged their error:

The state police later acknowledged it had erroneously given Martin a FOID card in 2014 after a background check based on his name and birthdate didn’t turn up anything that would disqualify him from owning a gun.

And because of The ISP’s failure, the law abiding residents of IL have to “pay” the price (make sure you you read this article VERY carefully:

It’s just a fact of life that handguns are now permanent legal fixtures in the American landscape. We have to live with that.

But the freedom to own a firearm doesn’t mean it has to be free of charge. It doesn’t mean that owners can’t be a tiny bit inconvenienced. And someone’s right to own a gun certainly does not trump the safety rights of the rest of us.

This is what the pro-gun people don’t seem to understand.

Gun rights advocates in Illinois are in an uproar over legislation that is being debated in the General Assembly. The bill simply would make it harder for people who aren’t supposed to have guns to legally obtain them.

The amendment to House Bill 96, sponsored by Rep. Kathleen Willis, is one of several bills introduced in the aftermath of a multiple shooting at a manufacturing warehouse in Aurora in February.

The ISRA is livid that everyone who applies for a new FOID card or renews one would have to be fingerprinted. The cost of this would be “astronomical, up to $250.” In addition, the ISRA says, applicants would have to pay for their own background check, costing another $100 or more.

But who says that the people who choose to own firearms shouldn’t have to go into their pocketbooks every now and then? Gun owners have no problem shelling out $600 for the latest Smith & Wesson. But if you ask them to pay $10 — the current cost of a FOID card — they go ballistic. They are perfectly satisfied allowing taxpayers who would never own a gun to supplement the administrative costs for their freedom.

There’s nothing wrong with forcing the people who like guns to kick in the extra costs for law enforcement officials to run the program properly, including following up on people like Martin who have had their FOID cards revoked.

You all read that correctly. Because of the ISP’s failure, the cost of Rep. Willis’s proposed bill will be put on law abiding IL gun owners. It would no longer be a “right”, it would be a financial privilege for those that can afford it at the time of renewal/application.

Lots of redactions as you can see, I wonder if some of this was discussed, as we all know the state loves to tax everyone until they leave the state………