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The Illinois gun dealer licensing law currently sitting on the Governor’s desk makes a mockery of the Land of Lincoln residents’ gun rights. SB-1657 threatens the lawful commerce of a lawful product by empowering the state to impose conditions on that license. Mentioned in the bill . . .

Licensing fees, a minimum number of hours of experience selling firearms (100) for the licensee, a qualifying examination for licensees, training and “continuing education” for both licensees and employees and “appropriate security measures” — including video of all transactions and firearms storage areas.

Under the scheme . . .

A licensee shall post in a conspicuous position on the premises where the licensee conducts business a sign that contains the following warning in block letters not less than one inch in height:

With few exceptions, it is unlawful for you to:

(1) store or leave an unsecured firearm in a place where a child can obtain access to it,

(2) sell or transfer your firearm to someone else without receiving approval for the transfer from the  Department of State Police, or

(3) fail to report the loss or theft of your firearm to local law enforcement within 72 hours.

Yes you read right: the bill eliminates private firearms transfers. According to its mandate, all firearms sales must go through a Federal Firearms Licensee. And if that wasn’t enough infringement, it limits Illinois citizens to nine firearms transfers per year.

Here’s who’d be in charge of all this (from the Bill’s synopsis):

Creates the Gun Dealer Licensing Board consisting of 5 members appointed by the Secretary of Financial and Professional Regulation to recommend policies, procedures, and rules relevant to the administration and enforcement of the Act . . .

Establishes qualifications for obtaining dealership licenses and for being employed as a dealership agent. Establishes penalties for violations of the Act. Provides for rulemaking, including emergency rulemaking.

In case you were wondering, the Bill stipulates that an emergency is defined as “the existence of any situation that any agency finds reasonably constitutes a threat to the public interest, safety, or welfare.”

Here’s something else special from the law: one of the five Licensing Board members must be “a representative of an advocacy group for public safety.” Despite the NRA’s record of training millions of people how to use a firearm safely and responsibly, I don’t think that’s what Democratic lawmakers have in mind.

Not to worry! “A member also shall disqualify himself or herself from any matter on which the member cannot act objectively.” Unfortunately, the State Licensing Board’s potential lack of objectivity wouldn’t be the firearms dealers’ only problem.

A municipality or county may impose additional requirements for the operation of gun dealers and dealerships beyond the requirements of this Act and consistent with the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Illinois, including local license requirements.

So the city and local authorities can add to dealer licensing requirements — an unconstitutional scheme in and of itself — as long as they respect the Constitution. Which apparently allows the city or municipality to ban gun stores from locating closer than 550 feet from “any school, pre-school or day-care facility.” Or more.

SB-1657 made it through the Illinois Senate the day before the 2017 NRA Convention thanks in part to Springfield Armory and Rock River Arms’ lobbying group trading opposition to the bill for a carve-out for the two companies (who rescinded their offer after it was exposed by TTAG and then campaigned against the bill). Yesterday, it passed through the House of Representatives.

The gun dealer licensing scheme puts Governor Rauner in a bind during a re-election year. Does he veto the bill, angering suburban Chicagoland voters scuppering his re-election chances? Or does he sign the bill angering a good portion of the Prairie State’s 2.25 million gun owners, killing his re-election chances?

The People of the Gun will lean hard on the governor to veto the measure. At the same time, gun control advocates will pull out all the stops to urge Rauner to sign it, seeing this as a program that can spread to other states. Will advocates of firearms freedom and individual liberty repel this threat? We’ll know within the next 90 days.

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44 COMMENTS

      • Can’t wait for SAs next teary eyed video plea for forgiveness right before they file for bankruptcy. Party at my house!

    • Where did TAG read that all private sales need to go through a FFL? The requirement to check FOID card is NOT the same a going to a FFL. All you get is a authorization code to put on YOUR records to cover you ass that you are not selling to someone who should not be getting a gun.

      • It’s part of the new gun dealer licensing garbage. Unfortunately Illinois looks like they want to turn 2.2 million citizens into felons overnight.

        • Give me the page and line number. I think that the pro-second amendment types are as bad as anti-gunners when they are reading the laws.
          The only thing that comes close is that if you move more that 10 guns a year (and there are exceptions) then you are classified as a dealer. Lot less muddy than the ATF.

    • In the SA apology video, Dennis Reese stated: “Springfield Armory is adamantly against this bill, and will fight to defeat it until the very end.”

      TTAG – You have more sway than me…….Can you ask SA what they have done recently to help defeat this bill? I don’t think they’ve done anything.

      If they have, they should announce it to regain trust, if they haven’t, then they’re liars. Either way will be provable beyond any doubt, as opposed to the shadow of a doubt when their lobbying group was involved.

  1. It’s urgent we have our voices heard. Please contact President Trump directly and tell him NO ON GUN CONTROL, specifically no ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN. Remind him that gun owners and specifically the NRA got him elected. Tell him he won’t have to worry about a re-election in 2020 because with this historical betrayal, he’ll lose the House in 2018, at which time he’ll be impeached. https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

    Oh, and f@@k Springfield and RRA. FOREVER.

  2. I’m from Illinois…..rauner is a left wing pretending to be a conservative, he will sign that thing without hesitation…….he and his wife are so far left they don’t even know what direction “right” is…..

    Also….Sprifield Armory and Rock Island armory, they need to be boycotted to the point they go out of business……I was ready to forgive them for what they did….and it didn’t look like this bill would make it out of committee, and Springfield said they were now campaigning against it…….everyone makes mistakes….but this bill has finally made it to the weak, cowardly Governor, and he is going to sign it into law…it will allow them to force registration, jack up fees and taxes and fines on gun stores…it is a back door ban on guns and equipment……

    • “one of the five Licensing Board members must be “a representative of an advocacy group for public safety.””
      ????
      So it has been written into the law that one of the board members who will determine the enforcement and implementation of this law must be a member of an anti-civil rights organization?
      Thinking back to my history classes and I don’t recall members of the Klan being required to have a seat on the committees that were tasked with overturning the Jim Crow laws…
      🤠

    • Rock River Armory NOT Rock Island. Two different companies. RRA is traitorous and is located in Illinois. Rock Island makes affordable 1911s and other firearms out of the Philippines with US offices located in Nevada. Please get it right.

      • It’s Rock River Arms, not Armory.

        Also, a boycott may get their attention but they’re not going out of business. The bulk of their money comes from government contracts. We can make them feel some pain but the idea of bankrupting them is an ignorant pipe dream.

    • That is not the worst that is going to happen for us in Illinois crazy land. The other legislation is just as bad.

      House Bill 1468, sponsored by Representative Jonathan Carroll (D-57), passed by a vote of 79-37. It would require a 72 hour waiting period for certain commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms and .50 BMG caliber rifles. Current Illinois law requires a 72 hour waiting period for handguns and a 24 hour waiting period for long guns. The arbitrary distinction in this bill will cause confusion among firearm sellers about which long guns require a 72 hour waiting period. In addition, it would also ban the sale of these firearms to non-residents.

      House Bill 1465, as amended by Representative Michelle Mussman (D-56), passed by a vote of 64-51. It would deny law-abiding young adults under the age of 21 their Second Amendment rights by prohibiting them from possessing or purchasing commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms, standard capacity magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition, and .50 BMG caliber rifles. The bill would require adults under the age of 21 to dispose of such firearms within 90 days and to dispose of standard capacity magazines over ten rounds in capacity immediately. In addition, language in the bill would prohibit out-of-state visitors from being present in Illinois for longer than 24 hours with such firearms or standard capacity magazines.

      House Bill 1467, sponsored by Representative Martin Moylan (D-55), passed by a vote of 83-31. It would ban “bump stocks” and “trigger cranks.” The broad and vague language could be interpreted to ban components used on competition grade firearms. It would ban various antique and historical reproduction firearms such as Gatling guns, which are owned by collectors and historical reenactors. It would require owners of “bump stocks” and “trigger cranks” to dispose of them within 90 days.

      House Bill 1469, sponsored by Representative Daniel Burke (D-1), was heard without action taken. The House may decide to take this bill under consideration at any time. HB 1469 would ban standard capacity ammunition magazines over 10 rounds in capacity and body armor. The vast majority of handguns have standard capacity magazines holding more than 10 rounds. These magazines would have to be disposed of within 90 days.

      Source: https://www.nraila.org/articles/20180228/illinois-urgent-action-needed-gun-magazine-ban-waiting-period-dealer-licensing-pass-house

  3. There is no doubt that he is going to sign this bill……he is a left winger through and through as his pro abortion actions have shown…..time to leave this rat hole state…

  4. He’ll sign it and then a full fledged Democrat will beat him in the next election anyway. Illinois is almost as far gone as California

  5. I have great sympathy for Illinois dealers. Rauner has NO CHANCE of winning without Illinois gun owners. Keep a record of RINO scum who push evil gun laws. A day of reckoning is at hand…I hate living in Illinois.

  6. The private transfer rule is 4 years old.

    According to Illinois State Police Colonel Marc Maton , in Jan 2014,
    http://tspr.org/post/new-rules-selling-guns-illinois
    “Any person who is not a federally licensed firearms dealer, and who is planning to sell a firearm to a person who is also not a federally licensed firearms dealer, must contact the Illinois State Police with the purchasers’s FOID card, and determine the validity of the FOID card before selling or transferring the firearm,”
    “A private firearm transaction approval number can be requested 24/7 from the Illinois State Police preferably through the ISP website or by calling (217) 524-3847 during normal business hours.”

    • Yes that’s TRUE…I bought my wife a gun but she doesn’t “officially” own it. F##k Illinois…I bought a gun from my brother and sold him one. NOW I’d have to go through all the rigamorole😡

  7. “SB-1657 threatens the lawful commerce of a lawful product by empowering the state to impose conditions on that license.”

    Can someone please explain to me how Progressives managed to change the meaning of “regulate” from “make something work well” to “stifle something with endless red tape”?

    • Pretty much… that’s not a bug, that’s a feature. If you think that’s bad, check out HB1469. It’s a body armor and magazine ban with no grandfather clause. Basically, turn them in or become a felon.

        • Fortunately, even the IL DNC has decided that a magazine and armor ban was a bridge too far at the moment.

  8. Lived in Illinois 30plus years two years ago retired and moved to Indiana the best thing I have done in years. Illinois is losing every day.

  9. Did any of you see Tucker Carlson’s show on Tuesday night? Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago city aldermen have made it entirely possible for illegal aliens to vote in Illinois elections — including State and Federal elections.

    They created a “City ID” card, which they are expressly marketing to illegal aliens, and it is recognized as a valid voter registration ID.

    Something tells me Rauner is not going to be re-elected no matter what. And things are far worse in Illinois than a gun dealer licensing bill.

    • Yes I saw that too. Typical Chicago/Illinois corruption. I can’t wait to move out of this corrupt state….

    • They have had a Chicago voter I.D. card for many years already. You and I might also refer to it as a “death certificate”.

    • That’s kind of interesting and may backfire on them. If it’s proven that a significant number of voters aren’t eligible, a court could invalidate the votes. What if IL effectively had 0 electoral votes?

  10. Meh. I have a hard time feeling bad for Illinois. The good folks there need to clean house or leave and let the State collapse. Yeah, sorry it’s that simple.

    Personally I’m tired of hearing how the customers of private companies need to bail out the folks of some State or another when ultimately the problem rests with the people of that State.

    Ignoring other issues, at best what’s being asked for in most of these circumstances is for people in other states that don’t have such stupidity problems to pay higher prices so that some company can allot a certain amount of it’s revenue towards trying to unfuck a State.

    That’s really not reasonable. Why should a resident of New Mexico have to pay more for a Sig so that Sig can “teach Cali a lesson” or why should that same resident of NM have to pay more for an M1A so that Springfield can send money to Springfield to lobby for shit that 1) shouldn’t be a problem and 2) isn’t any of that NM resident’s concern? The NM resident didn’t do anything to fuck up Illinois so why should they pay more for an M1A so that Springfield can spend that money lobbying to unfuck Illinois?

    The answer is that they shouldn’t. Illinois made their bed. Let them either square the fucking corners and get right with the Lord OR simply lie in their poorly made bed. It’s not up to everyone else to spend their hard earned dollars fixing the legislative problems in Illinois.

    Even if RAA and SA did “the right things” they’d still be doing the wrong things by charging more to customers in free states so that the extra money can go back to Illinois to lobby against shit that is none of most customers business/concern and shouldn’t be a problem in the first place.

    • Illinois is a bit of a special case. Our state legislative districts are so corrupt it would take a revolution to change them. Chicago has less than 20% of the population, but effectively controls 40% of the house seats. Cook County can almost swing a majority by itself.

      Though frankly, I’m done with these clowns, after the past two days, I decided I don’t need the stress. I can do my job from the South Pole provided I have an internet connection. Anybody have any suggestions on good areas in or near (<1hr in rush hour from northern edge) Dallas to purchase property? I'll definitely be moving before 2020.

      • If you value your gun rights, Texas is not the state that I would move to. Yes they are better than Illinois, but there are better places. And I have lived in a lot of different Sates.

        • I like the weather. Dallas is about as good an option as it gets that still has a major metropolitan area that can provide the internet connection I need to do my job. (Not to mention easy access to a major international airport.)

  11. What we should all do as pro-2A individual and families is move out of anti-2A states like Illinois where Chicago Dems control the state and other anti-2A states (MA, RI, CN, NY, NJ, CA, OR, WA, etc). We hurt the state were it counts by taking our tax revenue and purchasing power to pro-2A states. When several million move from Illinois and other states the just might wake up. That is a big maybe for Illinois thou.

    • The problem with the Illinois theory is that the people they are forcing out are the ones with massive amounts of disposable income. (aka their primary income tax payers) Illinois has 2.2 million gun owners. Losing that huge a chunk of your tax base will both crash their housing market and bankrupt the state. (Not that they aren’t broke now, but it will be much much worse.)

  12. Its time we expose socialists and harass them just like they do to us. Using kids to pimp gun confiscation is really low and we now know there are several unamerican turds in politics. We have to attack and ban the crap they sell, politicians they pimp and expose the lawlessness of these Democrat traitors… We have to fight dirty and weed these socialist trash out. Every lying article, commercial, every damn thing they say.. We have a enemy right in front of us and we have to revolt.. This is the real Russia collusion.. McCarthyism must come back to protect America there is no other way!! Let them use all their buzzwords.. Its better than 4 democrats breaking into our homes with semi auto hand guns while we have 10 miserable damn rounds to defend our families with… Screw these bastards.. The crimes we will face if there is confiscation will be unreal…. Revolt!!! At all costs!!!

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