TV show and Chicago legal question(s)

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psyfly

New member
Last night my wife and I were watching a television lawyer show set in Chicago.

A character (attorney) in the show is accompanied by a knowlegeable friend to a Chicago gun dealer where a discussion ensues about what kind of firearm to buy. After a decision is made, the Chicago gun dealer asks the attorney if she has a FOID. When she admits she doesn't, the dealer asks the friend, who does have one. At which point the dealer simply exclaims "Then you buy it for her" and leaves the scene. Next relevant scene makes it obvious that the friend has done as the dealer suggested.

Questions:

1.) Is this in any way legal in Chicago?

In many places, for example, it would be perfectly legal for the friend to buy the firearm as a gift.

2.) If not legal, does a TV writer/producer face any sort of legal consequences for perhaps advocating the commission of a crime?

I know, it's just fiction, but we appear to be living on the edge of somewhat repressive times.

I would clarify that, IMHO, there shouldn't be these kinds of restrictions at any level. So I'm not advocating here for enforcement of such silliness.

Thanks,

Will
 
This sounds like an example of a straw purchase. The person who originally intended to purchase the firearm could not, so someone else did it for them. That is very different from someone planning to purchase a firearm as a gift. Giving someone money to get you a firearm is a straw purchase.

Being a TV show they could just be setting up for some drama about the purchasing legalities later on. A TV producer would not face any sort of legal consequences for "advocating the commission of a crime." Murders and robberies occur on TV all the time. Anything they put on TV would be protected under freedom of speech. Someone claiming they illegally purchased a gun because that's how it was done on TV would have as much success in court as someone claiming they robbed a bank because their favorite action hero did it on TV.
 
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Is this in any way legal in Chicago?
Click to expand...

To buy a handgun? LOL


If not legal, does a TV writer/producer face any sort of legal consequences for perhaps advocating the commission of a crime?
Click to expand...

Of course not. But that is not even the case here. This is a story of fiction (very fictional). If writers could not write fiction there would be no movies. Not all speech is protected however. Slander and certain speech compelling insurrection or creating a public disturbance might be banned.
 
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It is kind of funny that the writers new about the Foid card but then

had the straw purchas.... then again, isn't this an on going series? I bet something will come of it pretty soon...
stay tuned for next week's exciting adventure when the ATF storms in and arrest everyone!
 
had the straw purchas.... then again, isn't this an on going series? I bet something will come of it pretty soon...
stay tuned for next week's exciting adventure when the ATF storms in and arrest everyone! Special Guest Stars, Nancy Pelosi,and Hillary Clinton
 
Quote:

"It is kind of funny that the writers new about the Foid card but then...had the straw purchas.... then again, isn't this an on going series? I bet something will come of it pretty soon... "

Well, that's kinda what I thought. I had little or no doubt about the answers to my questions, but was curious that they went to the trouble to research it somewhat (the friend's recommendations made sense, for example) then got the next part so wrong.

The show has had occasional references to firearms use and, so far as I can tell, pretty much w/o anti-gun bias.

I don't know if the story line will go anywhere; the attorney very shortly afterward decided that she was too liberal to actually shoot anyone and returned the gun to the friend.

But, back to the legal question:

What about the situation makes it such that it cannot be a gift purchase?

Best,

Will
 
If I can not legally own a firearm, you can not legally give me a firearm.

If my local township/county/city etc, require that I have a card allowing the purchase and I do not have the card, it is illegal for me to own/have the gun.
 
Yes, that helps.

I did not understand that IL law required a FOID card to own a firearm, I thought it only required a FOID card to purchase a firearm.

Loving living in TX. I bought my first handgun at age 17 down at the local furniture store.

Best,

Will
 
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If my local township/county/city etc, require that I have a card allowing the purchase and I do not have the card, it is illegal for me to own/have the gun.
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Must be a strange MO law. I can give my 18 YO son a pistol but he can not buy one in my state.
 
You know its fantasy, a gun dealer in Chicago, uh huh, nope, not in Chicago. If there was one he was illegal and wouldn't be asking for a FOID card. I could take you to half a dozen just outside of Chicago but I know of none in Chicago. Do not ever, ever, ever take gun advice from a TV show.
 
I can't think of a single gun dealer in actually chicago city limits... but, no, none of that was legal.

First off: handguns are banned in Chicago.
Second: no gun dealer in illinois would be dumb enough to facilitate a straw purchase like that.
thirdly: they're lawyers, they should know better.
fourthly: you need a FOID card to both purchase and own firearms.
Fifthly: it's TV.
 
Didn't J.J. and that rabid priest kill the only gun dealer in Chicago?

the foid card makes it all too complicated for my little brain....
 
Nah, that gun dealer wasn't in Chicago city limits - a suburb - and JJ and Father F didn't kill him, they just publically advocated that someone else should maybe do it. The gun shop owner is still alive and healthy - maybe cause he has a gun and most of the anti's don't - though many do and lie about it.

In regards to the tv show, Thomme is precisely right in his post.
 
Law and Order while is not really reality based. The murders that they "investigate" every week are not the type of murders that actually occur week after week. The type of murders that do occur are drug dealers killing each other over their corner spots to sell drugs.

But that does not interest old people in the least.

So what you do have is a fantasy scenario whereby they have to make up non-existent plot devices such as a corrupt handgun dealer in Chicago to explain where guns come from.
 
This dicussion reminds me the movie "The Brave One" with Jodie Foster.

The state, in its ill conceived attempt to control crime, creates regulations that abuse law abiding citizens and prevent them from being afforded a tool with which to defend themselves.

In the movie, Jodie Foster and her fiance are attacked in NYC's Central Park. Her fiance is killed and she is brutalized. After recovering she seeks to purchase a firearm for personal defense, only to be turned away & delayed by legal restrictions. She is approached outside and buys a gun in the face-to-face purchase, which is also presented as being illegal because of local laws.

When she defends herself in a convienence store from an assailant who has just killed the store clerk, she realizes the legal problems associated with the illegal gun and flees.

In my state, she would be able to buy a handgun from a dealer with a NICS instant check, could buy one from and individual with no required paperwork, and has to complete a one-day training course and file paperwork with the state to be issued a concealed carry permit. She would be lauded as a hero in her convienence store shooting, instead of hunted as a criminal.
 
I'm from Illinois and near the Chicago area. I saw the same show and it unfolded as I expected those kind of scripts normally do.


As for the Illinois Firearms Owners I D card.

The basic rule for rules on it being needed....


This apply's If your a state resident from the Illinois state police web site:

Who needs a FOID card?
Unless specifically exempted by statute, any Illinois
resident who acquires or possesses firearm or firearm
ammunition within the State must have in their possession
a valid Firearm Owner's Identification (FOID) card issued in
his or her name.
Click to expand...

So if you choose to not have an FOID or let expire, you can not legally even have any ammunition in your house, let alone a firearm or purchase ether.


As far as handgun possession within the Chicago city limits, You must have owned it before 1982 and registered it every year there-after with the Chicago police department. If you filed late and the registration expired you are S.O.L. . There was a little exception a while back on an expired registration by Alderman Richard Mell of Chicago, who forgot to re register and drafted a special law (pretty much all for himself) to get his guns legal again. The McDonald Scotus case does also mention this.
http://www.learnaboutguns.com/2008/05/21/influential-chicago-alderman-to-craft-gun-amnesty-for-himself/

Only exception to hand gun possession (legally) is You must be a LEO and it must be a legally issued weapon from your organization (approved). So technically no LEO could have a "personal" handgun collection at home within Chicago's city limits.

The FOID card does not apply If you are traveling thru the state under federal transport laws.

Viewing the TV show I'm unsure if its inferred that the Lawyer did live with in Chicago's city limits or a suburb that may allow legal possession. Then she would have also been willfully violating Chicago's current handgun ban. But The Pistol transfer from the law firm detective and the lawyer was a straw sale also... as the Lawyer did not possess a Valid FOID card.

We're all looking forward to the McDonald decision here Hope this answers a few of your questions!
 
No, the situation you described would not be legal in any way, shape, or form unless the two parties in question live together. In Illinois, you must have a valid FOID card not only to purchase, but also to legally posess a firearm. One person buying a gun for someone without a FOID card is illegal unless the firearm will stay in the residence of the party with the valid FOID (example: husband with a FOID buys a gun for his wife or child to shoot, but legally he still owns it). Secondly, firearms in general are restricted so heavily within the city of Chicago that they are practically illegal. To my knowledge, there are no gun shops within Chicago city limits. In order to buy a gun in the Chicago area, you must do so outside city limits and it is illegal to bring it into the city or some of the suburbs. Finally, the only way that a non-Illinois resident could buy a gun without a FOID card is if it were a long gun. According to Federal Law, handguns may only be transferred across state lines if it goes through an FFL in the purchaser's home state. Finally, I heard no mention of Illinois' waiting period. Last I knew (I moved away from that state over seven years ago) Illinois had a one day waiting period for a long gun and a three day waiting period for a handgun. Verification of the FOID card and the waiting period apply to both sales from an FFL and private sales.
 
Just one of our suburbs has a ban. I can't recall the name of it. They don't even allow shotguns or rifles. And some of the crime that I hear about it just ridiculous. I recall hearing about a women who's dog was stolen from her while she was on a walk at knife point. I also recall hearing about a guy who attacked a group of people with a baseball bat, one person in the group was (illegally) carrying a handgun (that was both illegal to carry, but to own in the jurisdiction), pulled it on the guy with the bat and was subsequently arrested for defending himself.

To me: the above situations just seem ridiculous. I don't understand how ANYONE could possibly believe that guns are "evil" after hearing about these events in a municipality that bans ALL guns. The criminals in that jurisdiction aren't worried about breaking into a home and finding a shotgun in their face or that the person they accost can, and will, defend themselves. They pilfer the town in relative comfort with all the confidence in the world that they are the most powerful people on the block.

edit: I apologize, I have come to find out that the bans existed in several towns, but in the last couple years, many have been lifted.
 
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State law from back at least from 11/08:

Illinois law requires withholding the delivery of a
concealable weapon (i.e. a handgun) for at least 72 hours
and a rifle, shotgun, or other long gun for at least 24
hours. This applies for gun dealers and private sales.

Heres a link to the Illinois State police for the latest on Transporting Copy's were getting passed out at the Chicago auto show in 09:

http://www.isp.state.il.us/docs/1-154.pdf

Here's Sales both FFL and private also a pdf.

http://www.isp.state.il.us/docs/9-049.pdf
 
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