The Illinois legislature has again moved to regulate gun dealers. It comes after Governor Bruce Rauner vetoed a similar measure back in March, calling it “onerous bureaucracy.”
To satisfy Rauner’s concerns from the first time around, lawmakers from both parties revamped the legislation, calling it gun dealer certification. Instead of all-out licensing, the state would simply certify that a dealer is running a clean business. That, they say, would cut down on costs and red tape opponents took issue with in the first place.
Rep. Kathleen Willis (D-Addison) says the measure will still help to curb illegal gun sales, but now is more business-friendly.
“I cannot stress that enough! I stated that numerous times. It is not going to put a gun shop out of business,” Willis exasperatedly told the House during a debate.
The effort rose from the ashes of a failed attempt to license gun shops at the state level. That bill, Senate Bill 1657, would have required gun dealers to register for a five-year license with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. The idea was to ensure professional standards, like proper employee training and adequate video surveillance, were being met. […]
The effort was not enough to win over some, however, with most downstate lawmakers in both parties voting “no.” In addition to concerns about the effect it would have on small businesses and law-abiding gun owners, many believed the measure to be a slippery slope to a gun registry.
Rep. Allen Skillicorn, R-West Dundee, invoked “Red Dawn,” a 1984 movie where the Soviet Union invades the United States, in stating his opposition.
“When the bad guys invaded the town, what did they do? They went to the sporting goods store and they wanted to look up the gun registry,” Skillicorn said. “They wanted to look up the records of who owned the guns. Nothing is going to stop the state of Illinois from looking up this information if we now require this. This is a gun registry and that’s it.”
WOLVERINES! To the post, Rep Skillicorn, should read up on History. I don’t Cuban Insurgents and Soviet artillery are going to come reigning down on Dundee anytime soon.
===Rep. Allen Skillicorn, R-West Dundee, invoked “Red Dawn,” a 1984 movie where the Soviet Union invades the United States, in stating his opposition.===
I just…I can’t. This is beyond parody or satire. This is Idiocracy.
Just what all thinking Illinoisans want. State government policy decisions made on the basis of a movie. Somebody should check to see who ate Skillicorn’s strawberries.
===“When the bad guys invaded the town, what did they do? They went to the sporting goods store and they wanted to look up the gun registry,” Skillicorn said. “They wanted to look up the records of who owned the guns. Nothing is going to stop the state of Illinois from looking up this information if we now require this. This is a gun registry and that’s it.”===
Note: Colorado allows for recreational THC.
The Soviets, (who don’t exist anymore) and the Cubans worked together once nuclear weapons were used on the costal cities…
… but, Mr. Skillicorn is concerned, you see, not about the major cities destroyed by nuclear weapons, or that Cuba is driving 1950 Chevys, or that the Soviets are gone abd the Russians now go after elections not weapons… no, Mr. Skillicorn is worried about files in file cabinets… cited in a fictional movie… with enemies long gone.
“AVENGE ME BOYS!!!”
-Bruce Rauner from a FEMA camp in the Shawnee after the UN’s blue helmets invade the Heartland by posing as imported JB field staff
I don’t know if the latest version of the dealer licensing bill allows state and local law enforcement to inspect FFL dealers at will, but if it does, that is a really bad idea. Right now if a local cop walks into a gun store and demands to see customer records, the dealer does not have to give it to them. Those records are under federal control to be inspected by the ATF only.
Ironically getting local cops and sheriffs involved in dealer licensing is most likely to be abused in small towns and rural counties, to settle local grudge matches and target people they don’t like for further enforcement actions. As usual Richard Pearson from ISRA and Valinda Rowe from (southern) Illinois Carry haven’t figured out this angle, because they and their followers think the police are their friends. Duh!
“Pop Goes the Skillicorn”- a new dance based on the popular ballroom cavort “Pop Goes the Weasel” of Victorian times. The more outrageous the moves, the better. /s
I’m not so sure that criminalizing paperwork errors by private sellers will result in a drastic drop in gun crimes. But it will look good for re-election.
- Yiddishcowboy - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 10:59 am:
With the Red Dawn comment, he should now be known as Rep. “Sillycorn.” Oy.
- Commonsense in Illinois - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 10:59 am:
While you’re at it, Mr. Skillihorn, would you also take just a moment and explain how multiple Soviet and Cuban military divisions and aircraft were able to make it to suburban Denver without detection?
===While you’re at it, Mr. Skillihorn, would you also take just a moment and explain how multiple Soviet and Cuban military divisions and aircraft were able to make it to suburban Denver without detection?===
“Well, after the nuclear attack, the Cubans and Nicaraguans went thru Texas, and with Houston and Dallas destroyed, the invaders rallied, somewhere in Oklahoma, where the nuclear fallout was less threatening, you know after going thru nuclear wastelands to get TO that Oklahoma rally point. There, they met with Soviet paratroopers, that flew over the polar ice caps, and using Geiger counters, drove a few thousand miles more, with troops getting sick from nuclear poisoning, to the Colorado border, skipping at least 4-5 refuelings of Soviet marked and apparently made tanks and trucks.
Upon arrival, and setting up camps, the real move, besides the nuclear attacks, the caravans from Central America, the flying over polar ice caps, and keeping all that machinery operational and soldiers ready… they went after these… file cabinets…”
In his sequel press release, “Predator,” Skillicorn will explain why private citizens need access to personal nuclear weapons. You just never know when one of those pesky aliens might be lurking about in your backyard.
In practice, the bill will result in the massive closure of gun shops throughout the State. Agents for the IDPR show up at the gun shop and claim the owner’s papers are nicht in ordnung and shut down the shop. It takes 6 months to work through the appeal process and then the State finds another problem and the clock starts all over again. Most owners won’t last that long.
Among the Red Dawn fun. What actual measurable impact does anyone expect this legislation to have on gun violence in Illinois?
- TominChicago - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 11:44 am:
“I’m not so sure that criminalizing paperwork errors by private sellers…”
And I’m not so sure that the bill actually does that but you better scurry up to the mountains with Jed Eckert and the rest of the Wolverines just in case.
- TominChicago - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 11:47 am:
Red Dawn was a gun fetishists fanfiction, but what always bothers me most was that the center of the country would have been the first strike, not the coasts because that’s where the missed silos are.
He really should of picked “The Russians are Coming” The climatic scene of all the townspeople pointing their rifles at the Russian sub has to have been NRA’s dream.
We’re all making fun of Skillicorn and the NRA, but there is some historical precedent in other countries that registration of individual weapons sooner or later leads to (at least partial) confiscation. So I understand the fear of centralized registration of individual weapons. And, yes, I realize the Feds already have a centralized and mostly complete list of full auto weapons in civilian hands. And they could probably build a centralized list of about 60% (my guess, everything since 1968) of all firearms in the country.
Remember, in Illinois, the FOID licensing the gun owner was a compromise to avoid registering every gun like in some states.
Having said that, yeah, Red Dawn was an entertaining if very unlikely to happen movie.
=And I’m not so sure that the bill actually does that
from SB337..
For transfers of a firearm, stun gun, or taser made on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly, failure by the private seller to maintain the transfer records in accordance with this Section is a Class A misdemeanor for the first offense and a Class 4 felony for a second or subsequent offense.
- Chicago Cynic - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 12:49 pm:
“They don’t need Form 4473 - they’ll hack the NRA mailing / membership list before they get here. Sheesh!”
They won’t need to hack it. The $30 million they routed to the Trump campaign via the NRA got them all the access they will ever need.
And yes, for all the reasons everyone has cited, the Red Dawn plot is one of the dumbest in the history of distopian movie plots. My favorite part was that they would achieve complete surprise…with helicopters…flying more than 1,000 miles inland. What a dumb, dumb, dumb movie.
A trailer bill for Skilly calls on the Air Force to keep an F-16 on stand-by for a cocky high school senior and a retired Colonel to stage a daring one-plane rescue op on short notice. “Just in case”.
And orders the Dept. of Education to tighten the rules on excused medical absences from High School, granting the school principal permission to visit the allegedly sick student at home to confirm their condition.
What, you’re still here? It’s over! Go home! Especially Skilly.
The movie should be “Weekend at Bernie’s” about a governor who does nothing for three years.
Maybe Skillicorn could start a committee that could hold hearings on “anti-American” activities and ferret out all of the commie infiltrators? Seems like a good idea.
=Ironically getting local cops and sheriffs involved in dealer licensing is most likely to be abused in small towns and rural counties, to settle local grudge matches and target people they don’t like for further enforcement actions. =
I think a better movie to use (and Illinois-centric) is “Beginning of the End.” As the general told Peter Graves: “you’re a scientist, you know what grasshoppers can do. I’m a soldier, I know what guns can do.”
The point is not the movie or silly reference, but that having a registry is somehow saying all gun owners are already guilty and should be tracked. It is an over reach of government and should not be alliwed!
- tweed jacket - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 10:33 am:
WOLVERINES! To the post, Rep Skillicorn, should read up on History. I don’t Cuban Insurgents and Soviet artillery are going to come reigning down on Dundee anytime soon.
- OneMan - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 10:33 am:
Wolverines!
- 47th Ward - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 10:35 am:
===Rep. Allen Skillicorn, R-West Dundee, invoked “Red Dawn,” a 1984 movie where the Soviet Union invades the United States, in stating his opposition.===
I just…I can’t. This is beyond parody or satire. This is Idiocracy.
- Norseman - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 10:36 am:
Just what all thinking Illinoisans want. State government policy decisions made on the basis of a movie. Somebody should check to see who ate Skillicorn’s strawberries.
- OneMan - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 10:37 am:
If Skillicorn starts using Dirty Dancing references we will know he just loves movies with Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in them
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 10:38 am:
===“When the bad guys invaded the town, what did they do? They went to the sporting goods store and they wanted to look up the gun registry,” Skillicorn said. “They wanted to look up the records of who owned the guns. Nothing is going to stop the state of Illinois from looking up this information if we now require this. This is a gun registry and that’s it.”===
Note: Colorado allows for recreational THC.
The Soviets, (who don’t exist anymore) and the Cubans worked together once nuclear weapons were used on the costal cities…
… but, Mr. Skillicorn is concerned, you see, not about the major cities destroyed by nuclear weapons, or that Cuba is driving 1950 Chevys, or that the Soviets are gone abd the Russians now go after elections not weapons… no, Mr. Skillicorn is worried about files in file cabinets… cited in a fictional movie… with enemies long gone.
That’s as pathetic as it gets.
- m - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 10:38 am:
=I don’t Cuban Insurgents and Soviet artillery are going to come reigning down on Dundee anytime soon.=
Don’t forget the Nicaraguans
- Smitty Irving - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 10:40 am:
They don’t need Form 4473 - they’ll hack the NRA mailing / membership list before they get here. Sheesh!
- tweed jacket - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 10:42 am:
-m- with ollie north at the NRA now, anything is possible
- A guy - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 10:42 am:
Oh boy.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 10:43 am:
“AVENGE ME BOYS!!!”
-Bruce Rauner from a FEMA camp in the Shawnee after the UN’s blue helmets invade the Heartland by posing as imported JB field staff
- Honeybadger - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 10:44 am:
Seriously? I think he’s watched way too much TV
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 10:45 am:
In thought the Russians are now donors to the NRA?
I kid, I kid.
- wordslinger - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 10:46 am:
Rep. Skillicorn’s remarks reminded me of a different movie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEkWH8DB7b0
- Aldyth - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 10:47 am:
Facepalm.
- Mason Born - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 10:48 am:
I’m going to go out on a limb & say quoting Red Dawn as your reasoning isn’t convincing a whole lot of ppl.
Esp if he’s reffering to the 4473, that the feds make you fill out anyway.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 10:51 am:
I don’t know if the latest version of the dealer licensing bill allows state and local law enforcement to inspect FFL dealers at will, but if it does, that is a really bad idea. Right now if a local cop walks into a gun store and demands to see customer records, the dealer does not have to give it to them. Those records are under federal control to be inspected by the ATF only.
Ironically getting local cops and sheriffs involved in dealer licensing is most likely to be abused in small towns and rural counties, to settle local grudge matches and target people they don’t like for further enforcement actions. As usual Richard Pearson from ISRA and Valinda Rowe from (southern) Illinois Carry haven’t figured out this angle, because they and their followers think the police are their friends. Duh!
- Mason born - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 10:53 am:
How do I explain my reservations in a way my colleagues will understand? I know I’ll site a 1984 distopian movie.
Sonehow this sounded better in his head.
As for 4473 feds make you fill it out so you’re not changing it in Springfield.
- ArchPundit - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 10:55 am:
===Don’t forget the Nicaraguans
That was the domino that started the rest of Central America in the movie. Having seen the 1991 Nicaraguan military, it was fearsome for the 1950s.
Let’s not forget Harlingen, TX is only a two day drive. Assuming the cattle stay out of the way.
Wordslinger–beat me to it, though everyone beat me to
WOLVERINES!
- Anon221 - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 10:57 am:
“Pop Goes the Skillicorn”- a new dance based on the popular ballroom cavort “Pop Goes the Weasel” of Victorian times. The more outrageous the moves, the better. /s
- Texas Red - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 10:57 am:
I’m not so sure that criminalizing paperwork errors by private sellers will result in a drastic drop in gun crimes. But it will look good for re-election.
- Yiddishcowboy - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 10:59 am:
With the Red Dawn comment, he should now be known as Rep. “Sillycorn.” Oy.
- Commonsense in Illinois - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 10:59 am:
While you’re at it, Mr. Skillihorn, would you also take just a moment and explain how multiple Soviet and Cuban military divisions and aircraft were able to make it to suburban Denver without detection?
- Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 11:11 am:
===While you’re at it, Mr. Skillihorn, would you also take just a moment and explain how multiple Soviet and Cuban military divisions and aircraft were able to make it to suburban Denver without detection?===
“Well, after the nuclear attack, the Cubans and Nicaraguans went thru Texas, and with Houston and Dallas destroyed, the invaders rallied, somewhere in Oklahoma, where the nuclear fallout was less threatening, you know after going thru nuclear wastelands to get TO that Oklahoma rally point. There, they met with Soviet paratroopers, that flew over the polar ice caps, and using Geiger counters, drove a few thousand miles more, with troops getting sick from nuclear poisoning, to the Colorado border, skipping at least 4-5 refuelings of Soviet marked and apparently made tanks and trucks.
Upon arrival, and setting up camps, the real move, besides the nuclear attacks, the caravans from Central America, the flying over polar ice caps, and keeping all that machinery operational and soldiers ready… they went after these… file cabinets…”
- Fake Mr. Skillicorn
- Shark Sandwich - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 11:11 am:
Next up: citing Midnight Express in reference to a bill about prison violence.
- popcorn - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 11:14 am:
Rep. Skilletcorn also has a bill requiring the state to shut down the WOPR.
- A Jack - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 11:18 am:
In his sequel press release, “Predator,” Skillicorn will explain why private citizens need access to personal nuclear weapons. You just never know when one of those pesky aliens might be lurking about in your backyard.
- Occam - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 11:20 am:
In practice, the bill will result in the massive closure of gun shops throughout the State. Agents for the IDPR show up at the gun shop and claim the owner’s papers are nicht in ordnung and shut down the shop. It takes 6 months to work through the appeal process and then the State finds another problem and the clock starts all over again. Most owners won’t last that long.
Mission accomplished.
- City Zen - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 11:20 am:
“Roadhouse” would’ve been a better choice.
- ChrisB - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 11:21 am:
Oh sure, he makes a Red Dawn reference on this bill, but when I make an Old School reference about the Ives campaign, it goes way over his head.
- Saluki - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 11:38 am:
Among the Red Dawn fun. What actual measurable impact does anyone expect this legislation to have on gun violence in Illinois?
- TominChicago - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 11:44 am:
“I’m not so sure that criminalizing paperwork errors by private sellers…”
And I’m not so sure that the bill actually does that but you better scurry up to the mountains with Jed Eckert and the rest of the Wolverines just in case.
- TominChicago - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 11:47 am:
Red Dawn was a gun fetishists fanfiction, but what always bothers me most was that the center of the country would have been the first strike, not the coasts because that’s where the missed silos are.
- Amalia - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 11:50 am:
Yawn. Trump already let the Russians in, everywhere.
- Michelle Flaherty - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 11:54 am:
I thought the lesson from Red Dawn was that, in an emergency, you can tinkle in the radiator
- Nick Name - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 11:56 am:
“All that hate’s gonna burn you up inside, Skillicorn.”
“Keeps me warm.”
- James Knell - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 11:56 am:
I wonder what policy lessons Rep. Allen Skillicorn, R-West Dundee, took from the 1982 classic Megaforce?
- TominChicago - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 11:57 am:
“Roadhouse” would’ve been a better choice
“Paperwork don’t hurt.”
- Nick Name - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 12:01 pm:
===I wonder what policy lessons Rep. Allen Skillicorn, R-West Dundee, took from the 1982 classic Megaforce?===
I just hope he hasn’t seen The Human Centipede. 0.o
- a drop in - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 12:06 pm:
He really should of picked “The Russians are Coming” The climatic scene of all the townspeople pointing their rifles at the Russian sub has to have been NRA’s dream.
- frisbee - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 12:26 pm:
Perhaps we should ban the “Elite Paramilitary Organization Eagle Scouts” too
- RNUG - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 12:47 pm:
We’re all making fun of Skillicorn and the NRA, but there is some historical precedent in other countries that registration of individual weapons sooner or later leads to (at least partial) confiscation. So I understand the fear of centralized registration of individual weapons. And, yes, I realize the Feds already have a centralized and mostly complete list of full auto weapons in civilian hands. And they could probably build a centralized list of about 60% (my guess, everything since 1968) of all firearms in the country.
Remember, in Illinois, the FOID licensing the gun owner was a compromise to avoid registering every gun like in some states.
Having said that, yeah, Red Dawn was an entertaining if very unlikely to happen movie.
- Texas Red - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 12:47 pm:
=And I’m not so sure that the bill actually does that
from SB337..
For transfers of a firearm, stun gun, or taser made on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly, failure by the private seller to maintain the transfer records in accordance with this Section is a Class A misdemeanor for the first offense and a Class 4 felony for a second or subsequent offense.
- Chicago Cynic - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 12:49 pm:
“They don’t need Form 4473 - they’ll hack the NRA mailing / membership list before they get here. Sheesh!”
They won’t need to hack it. The $30 million they routed to the Trump campaign via the NRA got them all the access they will ever need.
And yes, for all the reasons everyone has cited, the Red Dawn plot is one of the dumbest in the history of distopian movie plots. My favorite part was that they would achieve complete surprise…with helicopters…flying more than 1,000 miles inland. What a dumb, dumb, dumb movie.
WOLVERINES!
- Anonymous - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 12:51 pm:
A trailer bill for Skilly calls on the Air Force to keep an F-16 on stand-by for a cocky high school senior and a retired Colonel to stage a daring one-plane rescue op on short notice. “Just in case”.
And orders the Dept. of Education to tighten the rules on excused medical absences from High School, granting the school principal permission to visit the allegedly sick student at home to confirm their condition.
What, you’re still here? It’s over! Go home! Especially Skilly.
The movie should be “Weekend at Bernie’s” about a governor who does nothing for three years.
- JS Mill - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 12:51 pm:
Maybe Skillicorn could start a committee that could hold hearings on “anti-American” activities and ferret out all of the commie infiltrators? Seems like a good idea.
=Ironically getting local cops and sheriffs involved in dealer licensing is most likely to be abused in small towns and rural counties, to settle local grudge matches and target people they don’t like for further enforcement actions. =
How did all of that workout in Tazewell County??
- Steve Rogers - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 1:08 pm:
I think a better movie to use (and Illinois-centric) is “Beginning of the End.” As the general told Peter Graves: “you’re a scientist, you know what grasshoppers can do. I’m a soldier, I know what guns can do.”
- City Zen - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 2:41 pm:
Pretty soon, Skillicorn will want to outlaw dancing in West Dundee.
- revvedup - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 4:02 pm:
@Steve Rogers: Peter Graves?? “Joey, have you ever been in the cockpit of an airplane before?”…(Airplane!)
And yes, I’ll say it also: WOLVERINES!! (The original, not the remake). “Because we LIVE here!”
- MangoMan - Wednesday, May 30, 18 @ 4:06 pm:
The point is not the movie or silly reference, but that having a registry is somehow saying all gun owners are already guilty and should be tracked. It is an over reach of government and should not be alliwed!