The gun banners in the state of Illinois are trying to add another level of bureaucracy to firearms dealers. SB 1657 would require anyone selling more than nine guns a year to be licensed as a dealer. Dealers are already federally regulated by the BATFE. Despite the many questionable things done by BATFE, they do have the experience to work with FFLs to do inspections. I sincerely doubt that anyone at the Illinois State Police or any of the local police and sheriffs' departments could say the same thing.
Illinois Carry released this alert this afternoon. If you live in Illinois and care about your gun rights, I'd suggest jumping on it.
Call to
Action
Witness
Slips & Phone Calls Needed
The time is here. It is now. We
stand at a crossroads in Illinois. To one side, the freedoms guaranteed in the
Constitution. To the other, the oppression in SB1657 Gun Dealer Licensing, a bill
designed to close Illinois gun stores and, with them, foreclose our rights as
citizens.
You know the reasons to oppose this
bill:
> Individuals transferring a
modest number of firearms must be licensed
> License fees are undefined and
unlimited - as high as $5,000 per year by some estimates
> Carve outs for “big box”
stores, making them exempt from this law, virtually guarantee the demise of
family owned gun stores
> Permission to operate a gun
store is required from the local Sheriff, meaning no gun stores in Cook County,
and none in other counties if their demographics change
> Contrary to Ezell v Chicago,
stores are not allowed within 500” of schools and day-care facilities
The list is long. Longer than
included here, but one thing is clear. Every page, every line, every word in
this bill is designed to eliminate existing gun stores and prevent new stores
from opening. And, in so doing, this bill is meant to strike a fatal blow to
the Second Amendment in Illinois.
You must make
a choice
Will you join thousands of other
Illinois gun owners and fight for your rights? Will you spread the word to
fellow gun owners, family, and friends? Will you file witness slips and make
phone calls opposing this bill?
Choose what is right. Choose action
now!
Call
Your State Representative!
Beginning tomorrow please call your
Illinois House Representatives to express your opposition to any form of state
licensing of gun dealers. Politely ask them to Vote No on SB1657, should
it come to a vote.
Contact information can be
found here.
Witness Slips Needed!
In addition to phone calls, please
file witness slips opposing SB1657 Gun Dealer Licensing. This bill is scheduled
to be heard in committee the morning of May 16.
File Witness Slips Now!
To avoid having
to complete each field manually, Log
on to your ILGA Dashboard (or Create
a New Account if you have not already done so) then
return to this email and click on the links for each witness slip. If you do
not wish to create an account, simply click on each witness slip link and
complete the required fields manually:
I, IDENTIFICATION: Enter your
personal information. Enter "NA" for the Firm/Business or Agency and
Title fields unless you are officially representing an organization.
II. REPRESENTATION: Enter
"Myself" unless representing an organization.
III. POSITION: Unless instructed
otherwise for a particular bill leave the description field at its default
value "Original Bill". Indicate your position by selecting the
"Proponent" or "Opponent" radio button.
IV. TESTIMONY: Select the
"Record of Appearance Only" radio button.
If filing manually, complete the
Captcha challenge and agree to the ILGA Terms of Agreement.
Then click Create Slip.
Oppose
Witness slips can be tracked here.
Let's face it - the goal of this bill is to drive the mom and pop gun stores out of business. After that is done, they will go after the big boxes to make it undesirable for them to sell guns and they will fold like a deck of cards.
