The Public, sick of gun violence has spoken

Last Thursday, an historic event took place in our Springfield, Illinois!

After many years and months of work, The Gun Dealer Licensing bill, Senate Bill 1657, was passed in the State Senate, with bi-partisan support.

Gun Dealer Licensing will encourage best business practices among gun dealers and hold corrupt gun dealers accountable. The bill would require the licensee and employees of gun shops to undergo background checks, allow law enforcement to inspect gun shops, and require video security for gun shops to prevent theft. This bill would help stem the flow of illegal guns to Chicago. Illinois sorely needs statewide gun dealer licensing.

PROBLEMS

• Gun Dealers are the most critical link between gun manufacturers and the public. They’re also one of the largest sources of illegally trafficked firearms in the nation.1
• Federal law requires anyone engaged in the business of dealing rearms to have a license from ATF. However, loopholes in federal law enable dealers to engage in illegal business practices and y under the radar. ATF lacks the necessary resources and legal authority to go after these negligent gun dealers.
• While the vast majority of gun dealers operate responsibly, a few bad apple gun dealers are disproportionately responsible for guns used in crimes. Of the 120 rearms dealers with the most crime guns between 1996 and 2000, 13 were in Illinois, the second highest concentration of any state. Only two of those 13 dealers had been inspected during that period. Four of the dealers had at least 500 crime-gun traces, yet not a single one of those four were inspected by ATF.2
• Recent research indicates that 40% of guns used in crimes between 2009 and 2014 came from Illinois. Most notably, nearly 17% percent of all guns used in crimes in Chicago were sold by just three of the state’s more than 2,400 gun dealers.3

SOLUTIONS

The Gun Dealer Licensing Act gives Illinois the ability to encourage better business practices and hold corrupt dealers accountable. It will help curb a major source of illegally trafficked firearms from entering our communities by enforcing:

• Background Checks for Licensees & Employees: Gun store employees often have access to huge inventories of guns and it is a common sense practice to require that dealers and their employees are as responsible as the buyers.
• Transparency and Accountability: Upon licensure, dealers would have their places of business open for inspection by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) and law enforcement during hours of operation.
• Training: The legislation would require training to ensure that dealers and their employees know how to conduct background checks, identify and stop straw purchases, and properly store guns to prevent thefts.
• Security Requirements to Protect Our Communities: The bill codifes industrywide best practices by requiring video security for brick and mortar locations and requiring that a copy of every purchaser’s FOID or ID card be kept on record.
• Safe Business Location Requirements: The law would prevent the business of any new licensee from being within 500 feet of any school or being in violation of any local ordinance.

UPCOMING Action: For your information:

National Gun Violence Awareness Day is coming up on June 2. An event is planned in Evanston. Place TBD. Attend an event and/or WEAR ORANGE!

OR, Wear Orange Party for Peace, June 3rd, Harold Washington Playlot Park, 5200 S. Hyde Park Blvd.

• Wear Orange was inspired by friends of Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year- old Chicago student killed by gunfire, who decided to honor her life by wearing orange — the color hunters wear in the woods to protect themselves and others. Wear Orange, inspired by bold and creative teens who refused to be silent , has turned into a nationwide movement.