The Illinois House Wednesday passed a bill to require the submission of fingerprints, along with higher fees in order to own, shoot or even handle a firearm or ammunition. Kathleen Willis’ Amendments to SB-1966 would also end private firearm transfers and even require immediate family members gifted a firearm to report themselves to the Illinois State Police under penalty of a felony.

The bill passed solely with Democrat votes, Democrats who claim to fight for poor, inner-city minorities. At least at election time. SB-1966, with its increased fees, has a guaranteed disparate impact upon poor people of color within the Land of Lincoln.

But just like Black Codes and Jim Crow laws a hundred years ago, this bill effectively prices the exercise of fundamental constitutional rights out of the reach of poor folks in general, and disadvantaged inner city African-Americans and Latinos in particular.

From Clayton Cramer’s The Racist Roots of Gun Control:

Today is not 1893, and when proponents of restrictive gun control insist that their motivations are color-blind, there is a possibility that they are telling the truth. Nonetheless, there are some rather interesting questions that should be asked today. The most obvious question is, “Why should a police chief or sheriff have any discretion in issuing a concealed handgun permit?” Here in California, even the state legislature’s research arm–hardly a nest of pro-gunners–has admitted that the vast majority of permits to carry concealed handguns in California are issued to white males. [36] Even if overt racism is not an issue, an official may simply have more empathy with an applicant of a similar cultural background, and consequently be more able to relate to the applicant’s concerns. As my wife pointedly reminded a police official when we applied for concealed weapon permits, “If more police chiefs were women, a lot more women would get permits, and be able to defend themselves from rapists.”

Gun control advocates today are not so foolish as to openly promote racist laws, and so the question might be asked what relevance the racist past of gun control laws has. One concern is that the motivations for disarming blacks in the past are really not so different from the motivations for disarming law-abiding citizens today. In the last century, the official rhetoric in support of such laws was that “they” were too violent, too untrustworthy, to be allowed weapons. Today, the same elitist rhetoric regards law-abiding Americans in the same way, as child-like creatures in need of guidance from the government. In the last century, while never openly admitted, one of the goals of disarming blacks was to make them more willing to accept various forms of economic oppression, including the sharecropping system, in which free blacks were reduced to an economic state not dramatically superior to the conditions of slavery.

Days ago, many of these same Democrats objected to voter ID in Illinois as an undue burden upon the poor. Because, they say, a lot of poor people of color don’t have government-issue photo identification.  Yet Kathleen Willis’ bill requires the submission of electronic fingerprints…and that requires a state-issued photo identification to get that done.

Yet as the floor debate went on for hours, nowhere and at no time today did these Democrats express any concern for the significant numbers of poor African-Americans without some form of government-issued photo IDs. For them, this law creating an undue burden on the exercise of fundamental constitutional rights is a feature, not a bug.

The bill’s provisions

The National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action has a pretty good run-down on this onerous bill.

  • Criminalize private transfers, with violations being punished as a Class 4 felony.
  • Require the recipient of a firearm gifted by a family member to call into Illinois State Police within 60 days to run a background check on themselves, even though they must already hold a FOID.
  • Allow for the indefinite delay of firearm transfers.  Currently, federal law allows a licensed firearm dealer (FFL) to release a firearm after three business days if they have not received any additional correspondence after receiving a “delay” when conducting the initial background check for a firearm transfer.  This safeguard prevents the potential shutdown of sales via endless delays and allows law-abiding individuals to take possession of a firearm in a timely manner.
  • Mandate FOID applicants submit fingerprints, including for renewals, which would not add anything of investigative value.
  • Increase FOID processing time from one calendar month to thirty business days, which can span more than six weeks.
  • Reduce the duration of the FOID from ten years to five while also increasing the application fee from $10 to $20, resulting in a significant increase in the cost to maintain a FOID for the same amount of time.
  • Require FOID applicants pay all costs for fingerprinting and processing the background check, totaling around $150 on top of the application fee.
  • Prohibit those with a revoked FOID from transferring firearms to another FOID card holders in the same household and also take away the right to self-defense from individuals due to the alleged actions of someone else in their household.
  • Require the owner of the seized firearms to petition the court to have them transferred to a third party.

The fingerprints…

As part of the gun rights community here in Illinois, I’m not sure about the costs of fingerprinting totaling $150 after Amendment #2.  Yes, originally the costs would easily total over $150 per person (or $600 for a family of four just to remain legal to own guns in Illinois).  $70-100 for prints + $50 application fee + $38 background check fee = about $150-200+ in the original bill.  Or about $800 for a family of four.

Willis, in true Venezuelan socialist fashion, mandated the maximum fee charged for electronic fingerprinting at $30, far less than the current market rate around the state of $70-100+, depending on the provider and the location.

However, from past offers made to me as an Illinois concealed carry instructor, $30 stands as probably $10 to $15 less than LiveScan fingerprint providers must pay to the state (and the LiveScan people) when they submit a set of prints to the state. How many businesses are going to take fingerprints for a FOID card for the privilege of losing money?

Exactly none.

[Edit:  Since I originally wrote this, I’ve learned that Willis plans to allow the LiveScan providers to pass along the $38ish background check fee to the applicants instead of including it in the LiveScan fee.  So once again, getting “fingerprints” in Illinois still cost about $70, they just break down the fees into categories now instead of charging a single fee.]

Not only that, but Illinois only has 109 LiveScan providers, and many of those are municipalities and school districts. Those entities will not offer prints for non-government business purposes. And I’ve heard that there are possibly as few as a dozen non-governmental LiveScan providers south of Interstate 80.

Interstate 80 is highlighted in red. Image via Wiki.

Imagine the hue and cry from Dems if there were only a dozen or two dozen places to register to vote south of I-80. For rural residents, they may face a two-plus hour drive to find a LiveScan provider and an equally long return trip home.

The $10 private transfer cap

The bill also requires all private transfers to go through a gun dealer…so-called universal background checks. Similarly, Willis capped those fees, too at $10 per firearm. That $10 is one-half to one-quarter the current going rate for firearm transfers in Honest Abe’s home state.

As FFL-Illinois president Dan Eldridge noted at TTAG last week:

I won’t willingly do a $10 transfer; it’s a money loser and an un-compensated risk to my license as an FFL.

Will the state compel all FFL’s to do these $10 transfers? They may try, but consider that a) some shops will not do transfers of any kind currently, and b) an FFL can deny any sale at any time to anyone, as long as it’s not on the basis of racial/protected class discrimination.

So…say good bye to private firearms transfers.

Indeed. Why would any business provide a service that loses money?

In short, they won’t.

The mainstream media looks favorably on the bill

As day follows night, the state’s mainstream media outlets have dutifully gotten behind the bill.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Looking to address the broken system that enabled the Aurora shooter to buy a gun and keep it — despite his criminal history — the Illinois House narrowly passed legislation Wednesday that requires residents to provide their fingerprints before obtaining a firearm license.

The measure also would create a task force to enforce laws requiring those whose gun licenses have been revoked to surrender their firearms or place them with a legal owner. And the bill would raise the application fee for the license, known as a firearm owner’s identification card, to $20 for a five-year license, up from a $10 fee for a card that was good for 10 years.

The 62-52 vote followed about three hours of heated debate on the House floor, with strong opposition mainly from suburban and downstate Republicans. One downstate lawmaker, Rep. Darren Bailey, called the bill “a total and complete infringement of the Second Amendment and the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution.”

Within minutes of the measure’s passage, the Illinois Rifle Association issued a statement vowing a court fight and calling it “one of the most onerous regulations for gun owners.”

As Guns Save Life’s executive director, I have high confidence we will likely either amend our current NRA-supported suit challenging the FOID Act’s constitutionality or file a new suit if this bill becomes the law of the land. Frankly, passage of this bill into law would only bolster our case Guns Save Life v. Raoul for striking down the FOID Act outright. Which would be a darned shame.

Prospects of Senate passage

Looking into my crystal ball, I see this bill passing through the Land of Lincoln’s Senate.  Democrats control a super-majority there as they do in the House, but only require a simple majority for passage if done by the end of this month. The bill is scheduled for action today. That would allow some downstate Dem senators who are up for election in 2020 to cast a no vote for political cover.

And nobody expects our new governor not to sign any gun control that makes it to his desk. The only question we shall face will be what Kathleen Willis will try to pass next.

The silver lining I see is that this bill provides easy, low-hanging fruit for a court to invalidate the entire FOID Act as unconstitutional should it become law. Let’s hope so.

21 thoughts on “Illinois House Passes Bill Requiring Fingerprint Submission, Fees to Even Touch A Gun”
  1. So, if my gun were purchased prior to this (supposedly) going into effect, I can just back date the receipt for private transfer to a date before this, and no one would know the difference other than two people.

    My FOID expires later this year. Would it be a good idea to submit for renewal now, rather than wait?

    1. I will not comment on the first part of your question but If I were you I would try to renew now. This is June renewing 3-4 months early is just being prudent in the land of tyranny and oppression.

      The other thing I would do is let every gun owner and pro-liberty person you know learn about this tyranny.

      This is total BS. If this bill becomes law and is not overturned by the court or by near future legislation, Illinois and I will part company. In other words Illinois can kiss my A$$.

    2. Your statement is absolutely correct.
      Plus, as far as leaving the state for one that more 2nd Amendment friendly.
      From my last count their are at least 16 that have
      Constitution Carry.

  2. I just renewed my FOID.

    The web site would not allow me to start a renewal until 3 months before my current FOID expired.

    I just received my new FOID exactly 2 months after submitting the renewal.

  3. Here in TN we can get a carry license for less money than y’all have to pay for a foid card. How sad is that?

  4. We can not stand by and wait for a court to hopefully over-turn this horrible bill, if it becomes law, the democrats want to ram down our throats.

    Everyone that comes to this site is informed and involved. The problem is the over 1 million gun owners and pro-liberty minded people that do nothing.

    Now we need to get involved in a different way. Informing others by reaching out to our fellow gun owners and like minded people and telling them that its time to get off the pot.

    These doorknob whores are not going to stop now. They will keep going until we are completely disarmed and enslaved.

    These leftest pigs are not our fellow countrymen; they are cultural Marxist filth hell bent on destroying our state, our country and our future.

    We need to start the greatest out-reach program in the history of Illinois gun owners. Getting involved on social media calling into talk shows and waking up fellow patriots must now be our goal.

    Do not rely on groups for this purpose. We are the ones that need to use this action by the left as a tool to reach out to others.

    PLEASE DO NOT SET ON THE FENCE; GET INVOLVED, TALK TO OTHERS AND GET THEM TO REGISTER TO VOTE AND PARTICIPATE

    P.S> I personally have called into 2 talk shows in the past 2 weeks and talked about SB1966. I have made my phone calls and gotten involved. i have even talked to others but now even I must step-up my game and become more vocal. If I can do it so can you

    1. I agree we can not wait for the court, we need to make waves now. Once gun owners realize what the democrats have done to gun owners we have a chance to turn this around.

      So lets use this bill against the democrats.

      A lot of people are not going to like losing a days work to be treated like a criminal and be fingerprinted. Plus once the cost soars the backlash can be used to defeat democrats state wide.

    1. My best guess is the FOID card requirement that you must meet currently will be reduced from the current 10 year period to every 5 years.

      Please understand, I agree with an earlier comment these clowns are not going to stop with this bill. The Demo-rats are pushing filth down our throats and they are not going to stop until they are stopped.

      I have one question that has not been asked; who will have custody of our finger prints?

      Will it be given to INTERPOL or will it stay in Illinois or will it be placed in the FBI data base.

      Will the company taking our finger prints be able to sell our personal data to a third party?

      I do not see that any of these issues have been addressed

    2. I needed to add this part.

      The risk of not defining a Clear chain of custody in handling our personal information is Identity theft.

      Who will our personal information be shared with once its given to the LiveScan finger print service providers.

      Companies like Live Scan can make millions selling personal data. How do you people think Facebook and Twitter make money? Its the selling of personal data

      Please contact your senator and house member and bring this to their attention immediately.

  5. Attention Attention Attention John!!!!!

    If Live Scan provides a service for fingerprinting can they sell our personal information?

    I want to know who will control my personal information. i was a victim of identity theft once and i don;t like it. Its like being raped.

    Please contact the NRA, ICarry and ISRA gun lobbyist and any one else and make sure that issue is addressed.

    Who will control our information and can the vendor sell it

    This must be asked and defined in the law

    1. Ok, John a data breach would occur if they were hacked but the question is can they sell all or part of the information they acquire.

      After reading the comments I too am curious; there is nothing in the bill stopping Live Scan from selling all or part pert of that information.

      There must be a defined chain of Custody for that personal information to protect the people of Illinois and I do not see that addressed in this bill or amendments.

      After reading the comments I have talked to my state representatives office early this morning about this issue and they told me they have similar questions.

      Who gets to see, have or buy our information in part or in full?

      Who owns Live Scan IS this a big money scam?

      I think it is a big money scam. By law Live Scan will have a captive 2.3 million customers with no place else to go

  6. Ok, I cant sleep; so I am looking into who owns live scan and according this web site there are only 20 companies serving Illinois

    http://www.fingerprinting.com/illinois/

    What kind of money scam is this! These are private companies that are licensed state vendors.

    There is NO guarantee our information will not be sold by Live Scan.

    Is there a promise that groups like ANTIFA will not be given our personal information by a sympathetic employee working for Live Scan?

    So who is going to profit from this BS bill if it becomes law?

    Its not going to be gun owners.

    Raise hell Make sure every one you know is aware of this democrat treason

  7. Here is what is coming.
    https://www.foxnews.com/us/new-york-man-faces-illegal-weapons-charges-after-killing-2-burglars-in-his-home
    A 64-year-old New York state man who was arrested for possession of an illegal handgun after he fatally shot a pair of prowlers rooting through his home Tuesday afternoon reportedly told the district attorney the weapon he used in self-defense was his dead father’s and he forgot to register it.
    But the 64-year-old was later arrested after authorities said they determined the handgun used in the shooting was illegally owned.

    One of the alleged burglars, identified by state police as 57-year-old Patricia Anne Talerico of Utica, was pronounced dead at the scene. The second alleged intruder, her nephew, 27-year-old Nicholas Talerico of Utica, was transported to a hospital and died of his injuries.
    Stolarczyk was arrested and charged with criminal possession of a firearm and was transported to the Oneida County Jail, where he’s awaiting centralized arraignment, according to state police.

  8. Texas Pride. We have pride in our State of Texas. You will see the Texas flag flown everywhere in the state.

    No FOID cards.
    Conceal carry cost $25 – 40.
    Renewal required 4 years.
    Training classroom (can be done online) 4-6 hours, Range 1-2 hours

  9. At the risk of sounding defeatist (which this comment obviously is)..

    I am so glad I moved from ILLannoys. If at all possible, get out of there. We’ve already lost the state.

    There are so many states where you don’t need state blessings to purchase a firearm, can carry concealed at your pleasure, and have other freedoms that seem to always elude Illinoisans.

    Unless you have a strong personal reason to stay there, vote with your wallet and feet. Voting at the ballot box? That vote has already been bought by the other side.

  10. Gun owners, christian’s, conservatives and pro-life people need to start coming together and organizing to defeat some of these anti-gun, baby killing open border loving democrats.

    Its time to realize the “NEW” American Dream.

    A day when the Baby killing, gun grabbing, open border loving democrats swimming away from the USA with an illegal under each arm.

    This is the New American dream

  11. let the hood-rat felons roam free on i-bonds & peanut bail, but make things difficult for the law-abiding. tdb = typical dhimmi-rat behavior. taqiyya-bama loves it.

  12. The Democrats claim they are going to attempt to reverse the vote on SB1966 by pressuring Senators into supporting the legislation.

    We need to be applying pressuring to every senator and house member and letting them know we the voters are opposed to this legislation

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