Universal gun background checks a must
Addressing the Illinois Senate Tuesday, state Sen. Jacqueline Y. Collins (D-Chicago) shrugged off warnings from gun advocates that failing to enact a concealed-carry law before a court-imposed July 9 deadline would turn Illinois into “the wild, wild West.”
In her district, which includes parts of Englewood and Greater Grand Crossing, “It is already a wild, wild West,” Collins said.
Exactly. We can’t let the long recent debate about the right to carry concealed guns in Illinois distract us from the most pressing reforms we need: universal background checks and a crackdown on “straw purchases,” or buying guns for people not legally permitted to purchase firearms on their own.
Nationwide universal background checks are needed because it’s too easy for felons or people with serious mental illnesses to buy guns. An estimated 40 percent of gun sales in the United States are done without background checks, transacted on the Internet, at gun shows or other places that don’t involve a licensed gun dealer.
As porous as it is, the existing background check system has prevented an estimated 1.8 million sales to felons and other prohibited purchasers. But it’s just too easy for those people to go get a gun someplace else.
Also we need stronger federal laws to prevent straw purchases, which often are treated on the federal level as minor transgressions.
In Illinois, legislation now on Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk will require private gun sellers to verify that a gun purchaser has a valid Firearm Owner’s Identification Card, which will help. But of course, someone without a valid FOID card can still buy a gun through an out-of-state website.
Also on Quinn’s desk is a bill that would require gun owners to notify police if a gun is lost or stolen. That will discourage some straw purchases because gun traffickers whose wares turn up at crime scenes often will say the gun was lost or stolen. But that law also covers only Illinois and won’t stop Indiana, for example, from continuing to export guns.
After the Legislature on Tuesday overrode Quinn’s amendatory veto of concealedcarry legislation — immediately making it law — a 10-day window opened up in which local governments can enact gun laws they deem necessary to protect their communities. Mayor Rahm Emanuel, for example, has called a special City Council meeting for July 17 to consider strengthening Chicago’s assault weapons ban and stiffening penalties for crimes committed near schools. Other home-rule communities should consider similar laws. After the 10-day window closes, it will be too late.
Quinn’s amendatory veto contained some sensible provisions, including keeping concealed firearms out of restaurants that serve liquor and limiting the number of permissible concealed weapons to one per person. A trailer bill including some of Quinn’s ideas died in the House on Tuesday but could be revived later this year.
When the Legislature revisits the issue, it should enact a law requiring gun dealers be licensed by the state. According to the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, Illinois has more federally licensed gun dealers than it has McDonald’s restaurants. But the state has no leverage over shady dealers whose wares repeatedly show up in the hands of criminals.
Over the July 4th weekend, 70 people were shot and 12 were killed in Chicago. We need to keep pushing for sensible gun laws until no neighborhoods in Chicago resemble the wild, wild West.