cuchulainn
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from the Chicago Sun Times
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-gun13.html
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-gun13.html
Daley asks gun control legislation
February 13, 2003
BY FRANK MAIN AND FRAN SPIELMAN STAFF REPORTERS
Mayor Daley is putting gun control back on the table.
Capitalizing on Democrats' new control of the Illinois legislature, Daley today will unholster three new statewide gun control proposals that would boost the cost of a firearm owner's ID card, lengthen the wait to buy a handgun and raise the penalty for having a secret gun compartment in a car. He's also resurrecting a measure requiring gunmakers to test-fire their products and record the unique "fingerprint" they leave on bullets.
"With a new General Assembly, there is a new sense of optimism about our agenda," a City Hall source said. "Each of these bills could save lives."
Daley is expected to unveil his gun-control package this morning at Chicago police headquarters. He has invited legislators he considers key to the success of the measures, including Senate President Emil Jones Jr.
Jones "has supported components of it in the past," said a Jones spokeswoman, Cindy Davidsmeyer, adding that Jones probably won't attend because of a prior commitment.
"In the past, when the Republicans controlled the Senate, most of these measures wound up dying in subcommittee," she said. "We are taking the stance on legislation, in general, that it will get a fair hearing."
Davidsmeyer pointed out that while Jones supports many of the bills, the Democratic caucus is not unified on the gun control issue.
Sen. John J. Cullerton (D-Chicago), the Judiciary Committee chairman, acknowledged that many Downstate Democrats oppose gun control.
But Chicago Democrats are finding new allies in the suburbs, he said.
"Suburban Republican women legislators are becoming more and more supportive of reasonable gun control measures," said Cullerton, sponsor of the test-firing proposal. "The divisions are more regional than partisan."
Sources said Daley is promoting nine separate gun-control recommendations, six of which were previously introduced in the General Assembly and died.
City Hall is awaiting a reaction from Gov. Blagojevich, who pushed for gun control as a state legislator and congressman. Under attack from gubernatorial opponent Jim Ryan, Blagojevich backed away from at least one of those positions.
"I will not raise the price of a FOID card--not one dime, not one nickel," Blagojevich was quoted as saying in a stump speech in October in Pike County.
As a state legislator, Blagojevich had unsuccessfully sponsored a bill to increase the five-year fee for a Firearm Owner's Identification card from $5 to $500--an issue Ryan used against Blagojevich in TV commercials Downstate.
Now Daley is proposing to raise the fee for a FOID card from $5 for every five years to $25 per year to cover new security measures that would require every applicant to be fingerprinted and photographed in person, sources said.
Blagojevich would oppose any increase in the price of a FOID card, but he supports some of the other measures Daley is pushing, including the test-firing of guns and closing gun-show loopholes. Blagojevich's spokesman, Billy Weinberg, said he could not comment on the entire package because he had not seen it.
Daley's package includes a measure to crack down on a "cottage industry" that equips vehicles with secret compartments for drugs and guns, sources said.
Sometimes the compartments have defense systems so sophisticated they require the car radio to be tuned to a certain station and the transmission placed in neutral for the trap door to open, police said. The penalty for having such a compartment would rise from a misdemeanor to a Class 4 felony carrying up to three years in prison.
The mayor also wants a 10-day "cooling off" period before a buyer can take possession of a gun--up from three days, sources said.
Daley will reintroduce six other proposals: a ban on assault weapons such as Uzis; a ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines; a one-gun-a-month purchase limit; background checks for firearms bought at gun shows; state licensing of gun dealers, and a requirement for gunmakers to test-fire every gun sold in Illinois for a computer database on the unique "fingerprint" each gun leaves on a bullet. The database would allow investigators to link bullets to guns.
"We have met with the mayor's office to discuss these proposals and we do support them," said Marcy Jensen, a spokeswoman for Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine.
Copyright 2003, Digital Chicago Inc.
idiots.
), one-a-month handgun purchases, ten day waiting period on said purchases, full-cap mag ban, mandatory ballistic "fingerprinting" and no telling what else. How's that for a whole lot of "common sense" all at once? 