” Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed a gun-control measure into law on Sunday that expands background checks to cover all firearms purchases in the state, closing what he said was a loophole that exempted gun sales between private parties,” reuters.com reports. Well, that’s one way of putting it. Heres another, equally misleading characterization from the Governor himself: “”Guns are a plague on too many of our communities. Making sure guns do not fall into the wrong hands is critical to keeping the people of Illinois safe. This commonsense law will help our law enforcement crack down on crime and make our streets safer.” Which of those sentences is not like the other? Under the new law all Land of Lincoln . . .
All gun buyers must have a firearm owners identification (FOID) card, which is issued by Illinois state police to applicants who pass a screening of state criminal and mental health records.” More worrying, “The seller must then call a state-run hotline to check that a buyer’s FOID card is valid before making the sale.” And so all sales of firearms in Illinois have to pre-cleared (in a sense) and state-approved.
The”expanded background check’s” go into effect on January 1, 2014. I’d bet dollar to donuts that undercover cops will be trolling the internet for violators tomorrow. How great is that?