Gwinnydapooh
Retired Screen Name
I expected this to be posted, I haven't seen it yet, hope that means I'm not repeating here. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/metro/chicago/article/0,2669,ART-38468,FF.html
County board approves new gun laws
By Rick Hepp
Tribune Staff Writer
November 23, 1999
The Cook County Board of Commissioners today adopted a gun-control package that includes raising the legal age for buying a gun and imposing new restrictions on gun dealers.
Board President John Stroger said the ordinance is "more comprehensive" than existing county and state laws.
The ordinance, which goes into effect in about seven months, covers 80 municipalities and unincorporated areas of the county that do not have gun-control laws.
"It has more teeth and (will have a) broader impact on controlling guns," Stroger said. "We hope it will be more affective and reduce the incidence of guns and violence in our community."
Under the new regulations, a gun buyer must be 21 years old -- an increase from 18 years old -- and can purchase only one firearm per month. The buyer must provide fingerprints and a current driver's license or state identification card and answer probing background questions before a purchase can be made.
"There is nothing that covers your constitutional right to posses a gun," said David A. Bonoma, the director of intergovernmental affairs with the Cook County state's attorney's office. "They just have to pass comprehensive background checks to get their gun."
The ordinance also bans the opening of new gun dealerships, although existing dealers in good standing could expand their locations within the county.
Currently, there are 109 federally licensed gun dealers in the county. As of today, only 10 of those licensed dealers were located in areas where the ordinance applies, Bonoma said.
The new regulations revoke the license of any dealer who knowingly sells to a "straw" purchaser -- a legal buyer who purchases firearms on behalf of a person who cannot buy them legally.
Other provisions include:
County board approves new gun laws
By Rick Hepp
Tribune Staff Writer
November 23, 1999
The Cook County Board of Commissioners today adopted a gun-control package that includes raising the legal age for buying a gun and imposing new restrictions on gun dealers.
Board President John Stroger said the ordinance is "more comprehensive" than existing county and state laws.
The ordinance, which goes into effect in about seven months, covers 80 municipalities and unincorporated areas of the county that do not have gun-control laws.
"It has more teeth and (will have a) broader impact on controlling guns," Stroger said. "We hope it will be more affective and reduce the incidence of guns and violence in our community."
Under the new regulations, a gun buyer must be 21 years old -- an increase from 18 years old -- and can purchase only one firearm per month. The buyer must provide fingerprints and a current driver's license or state identification card and answer probing background questions before a purchase can be made.
"There is nothing that covers your constitutional right to posses a gun," said David A. Bonoma, the director of intergovernmental affairs with the Cook County state's attorney's office. "They just have to pass comprehensive background checks to get their gun."
The ordinance also bans the opening of new gun dealerships, although existing dealers in good standing could expand their locations within the county.
Currently, there are 109 federally licensed gun dealers in the county. As of today, only 10 of those licensed dealers were located in areas where the ordinance applies, Bonoma said.
The new regulations revoke the license of any dealer who knowingly sells to a "straw" purchaser -- a legal buyer who purchases firearms on behalf of a person who cannot buy them legally.
Other provisions include:
<LI>Requiring a safety mechanism such as a trigger lock to be used at all times when transferring a gun from place to place.
<LI>Requiring dealers to pay $1,000, up from $500, as an annual licensing fee. Gun shops can get a $500 rebate if they purchase new electronic equipment that transfers a digital image of a prospective buyer's fingerprints and photo ID to the Illinois State Police as part of the background check.
<LI>Limiting any new dealer licenses from being issued within five miles of an existing gun shop or within one mile of a school or park.
<LI>Limiting the number of gun shows that can be held at any site to four within six months.
<LI>Denying a dealer license or gun show permit to any applicant or relative of an applicant who has ever had a license suspended or revoked.
If I read this right, they have banned all newly formed locations of a LEGAL business, propose to deny licenses to people because their relatives screwed up, and want to charge $1000 just for their license--and Bonoma even had the balls to say that all this doesn't "cover your constitutional right to possess a firearm." ??!?
Thank God I'm downstate. Hope other TFLers aren't offended at this post of regional issues, but I'd hate for people to forget what a putrid hole my state is becoming. Indiana is starting to look good . . . .
(My fiancee insists that I mention that these ordinances affect only Cook County, which she says does not encompass all of Chicago. If so, sorry about the title.)
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Don
"Its not criminals that go into schools and shoot children"
--Ann Pearston, British Gun Control apologist and moron