Illini Media
WPGU
buzz
Illio
TechnographNew gun control bill preposterous
By Gene Martin of Champaign
Posted: 2/4/08 Section: Letters
On January 11, 2008, State Representative Naomi Jakobsson introduced in the Illinois House, House Bill 4349, titled, "Regulated Firearms Encoded Ammunition Act,"* which would create "The Ammunition Accountability Fund" in Section 105, The State Finance Act.
(Please note: "Regulated Firearms"; in other words, controlling the sale of the ammunition ultimately regulates the sale/use of the firearm!)
This bill, as worded, would require law-abiding manufacturers of firearms ammunition to encode virtually all handgun and rifle cartridges and most shot shells to be shipped to Illinois for sale. Both the bullet and the case holding it would be stamped. All cartridges in a box would be stamped with the same number, as would the box holding those cartridges. No box of cartridges/shells would have the same code as any other box from the same manufacturer.
This bill would require the law-abiding retailer who sells the ammunition to a law-abiding hunter, collector, trap/skeet shooter, plinker, to charge the buyer an additional $.05 for each cartridge sold, said fee to be paid by the retailer to State of Illinois, "Ammunition Accountability Fund."
This bill would require the manufacturer and the retailer to send data to the Director of the Illinois State Police, supposedly so that the data could be used to apprehend the shooter in a firearm-related crime. Because criminals would not likely be using encoded ammunition, nor a legally purchased firearm, I question the true intent of this bill.
A Firearm Owner's Identification Card (FOID card) already is required for law-abiding Illinois citizens to purchase firearms and/or ammunition. This requirement has not prevented criminals who have no FOID, and who should not be in possession of either a firearm or ammunition, from acquiring firearms and ammunition to do whatever it is that criminals use a firearm to do. Despite some 20,000 gun laws in the United States, mostly at the state and local levels, there is no evidence that these gun control laws have made a dent in the crime rate.
I believe this bill is recognized by most Illinois legislators as being so preposterous that it will never get to the floor of the House, but what is bothersome is the fact that this bill was introduced by a "downstate" legislator. Such bills are usually introduced by Cook County area legislators to further their agenda of banning all firearms in the State of Illinois.
(Please note: "Regulated Firearms"; in other words, controlling the sale of the ammunition ultimately regulates the sale/use of the firearm!)
This bill, as worded, would require law-abiding manufacturers of firearms ammunition to encode virtually all handgun and rifle cartridges and most shot shells to be shipped to Illinois for sale. Both the bullet and the case holding it would be stamped. All cartridges in a box would be stamped with the same number, as would the box holding those cartridges. No box of cartridges/shells would have the same code as any other box from the same manufacturer.
This bill would require the law-abiding retailer who sells the ammunition to a law-abiding hunter, collector, trap/skeet shooter, plinker, to charge the buyer an additional $.05 for each cartridge sold, said fee to be paid by the retailer to State of Illinois, "Ammunition Accountability Fund."
This bill would require the manufacturer and the retailer to send data to the Director of the Illinois State Police, supposedly so that the data could be used to apprehend the shooter in a firearm-related crime. Because criminals would not likely be using encoded ammunition, nor a legally purchased firearm, I question the true intent of this bill.
A Firearm Owner's Identification Card (FOID card) already is required for law-abiding Illinois citizens to purchase firearms and/or ammunition. This requirement has not prevented criminals who have no FOID, and who should not be in possession of either a firearm or ammunition, from acquiring firearms and ammunition to do whatever it is that criminals use a firearm to do. Despite some 20,000 gun laws in the United States, mostly at the state and local levels, there is no evidence that these gun control laws have made a dent in the crime rate.
I believe this bill is recognized by most Illinois legislators as being so preposterous that it will never get to the floor of the House, but what is bothersome is the fact that this bill was introduced by a "downstate" legislator. Such bills are usually introduced by Cook County area legislators to further their agenda of banning all firearms in the State of Illinois.
The Daily Illini encourages on-topic discussion through article commenting on its articles and blogs. It is our policy not to delete any comments based upon political or ideological point of view. However, we reserve the right to remove comments that are abusive, off-topic or use excessive foul language.
The posting of copyrighted material, including any and all content for which you are not the author, is illegal under Federal intellectual property laws. Such activity will not be tolerated. Comments containing copyrighted material will be removed, and continued violation of copyright law is grounds for being banned completely from commenting on DailyIllini.com.
If you feel any post meets these conditions or merits review, please e-mail our editors at meonline@dailyillini.com.
Viewing Comments 1 - 8 of 9
Jay
posted 2/06/08 @ 6:58 AM CST
That's one unconstitutional law that practices optimum abuse to law abiding citizens Illinois. Even the required FOID card is a violation of individual rights. (Continued…)
Michael Hadfield
posted 2/06/08 @ 11:33 AM CST
On Saturday, 2-2-08 at the Layne Bryant Store in Tinley Park, IL, a gunman in a botched robbery attempt, forced five women into a back room, bound and gagged them, then executed them by shooting the women in the head. (Continued…)
Paul
posted 2/06/08 @ 6:27 PM CST
HB 4349 is not the only Ammunition Encoding Bill introduced into the General Assembly this session. The others are HB 4258, HB 4259, and HB 4269. I believe that such record-keeping and database creation focused, exclusively, on the law-obeying (one already needs State Police vetting to obtain an FOID card to be able to legally purchase ammunition in the FIRST place)public is done with full realization that such purchasers are NOT criminals. (Continued…)
Stu
posted 2/06/08 @ 6:51 PM CST
It's plain to see that some of our legislators think that law abiding citizens cause crime. This law would do nothing to stop crime. It would cause honest citizens a lot of problems. (Continued…)
SHAWN PRANGER
posted 2/06/08 @ 9:06 PM CST
THIS BILL WOULD CAUSE ME TO LOOSE MY JOB SINCE I WORK FOR WINCHESTER.MY RELOADING HOBBY WOULD NO LONGER PROVIDE ME WITH A PASSTIME I ENJOY.IT WOULD PROTECT THE VERMIN THAT PREY ON THE WEAK. (Continued…)
Michael Johnson
posted 2/16/08 @ 10:14 AM CST
When I called Rep. Davis (D-Chicago) to voice my objection to the bill that she sponsored regulating ammunition, her secretary told me that Rep. Davis was surprised by the number of objections that she has been receiving. (Continued…)
Concerned
posted 2/16/08 @ 4:51 PM CST
Interesting coincidence that only weeks after Jakobsson introduces the Bill, Illinois is terrorized by staged shootings in Tinley Park and Northern Illinois University. (Continued…)
Henry
posted 2/26/08 @ 8:33 PM CST
As a CCL holder in Texas, I have yet to persuade my bride to do the same. To my surprise when she viewed the executions from the stage of a college classroom as it came over TV news, she proclaimed, "There should have been only ONE victim. (Continued…)
Post a Comment