Here is a little background regarding the "Nazi Gun Laws", 1968 GCA, the Firearms ID Card and subsequently Illinois....and the players involved.After doing a little research yes New Jersey does indeed have horrible gun laws. ON the other hand you live in Kentucky so you can pretty much just walk into the LGS, buy and be on your way. There are a few States that have worse laws then Illinois, we both agree on that. As for the IL FOID act, here is it's history with "Permission to reprint-republish granted".
Here's the link: http://www.keepandbeararms.com/information/XcIBViewItem.asp?ID=3390
It's interesting reading, albeit a little old but it does go into great history of the IL FOID act.
Thomas Dodd was on the prosecution team at the Nuremberg Trials in Germany and he was the second ranking lawyer.
There are arguments that Thomas Dodd did speak fluent German.
Thomas Dodd is considered by many to be the architect of the 1968 Gun Control Act.
Thomas Dodd had the infamous "Dodd Hearings" leading up to the 1968 GCA.
Thomas Dodd asked the Library of Congress for a copy of the Nazi Gun Laws AFTER most of the 1968 GCA was written up...but not yet law. Some he did this to cover his tracks and create a straw man that he wasn't aware of the Nazi Gun Laws until well after the 68 GCA was written up.
But there are credible allegations that Dodd DID know Nazi gun laws and allegations that he could read them in German. Remember Dodd was the second ranking lawyer. At this point in time, it is only natural that he would be aware of some Nazi laws, and quite possibly the Nazi Gun Laws as well.
Getting back to the Dodd hearings in the 1960's. Guess who participated in the Dodd hearings? Arthur J. Sills.
OK, now who is Arthur J. Sills and how is he relevant to this conversation?
Mr. Sills was the Attorney General for New Jersey. He was the one who was behind the 1966 "Sills Act" or the FID (Firearms ID Card) that was foisted on the good citizens of New Jersey.
According to research, Sills and Dodd held hearings leading up to the 1968 Gun Control Act. It would not be much of a stretch for Dodd to inform Mr. Sills on what he saw in Germany on the ID cards/licenses that the Nazis used , thus giving the Attorney General of NJ an idea for a gun control plan in that state.
So in 1966 the Firearms ID Card became law in New Jersey. Some two years before the 1968 Gun Control Act and some two years before Illinois adopted theirs.
Chances are good that Mayor Daley had talks with Attorney General Arthur J. Sills of NJ and Thomas Dodd of the Dodd hearings and that is where the idea of the FOID came from. Either that, or Daley just looked at New Jersey's Firearms ID Scheme and just adapted it for Illinois.
Reading here, it looks like Daley settled for registering gun owners instead of registering guns..(Daley wanted registration of firearms!)
http://illinoiscarry.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=49828
" IL, instead of registering guns, is registering gun owners. It sure beats registering all of our guns and renewing them. Count your blessings it could be worse.
That was Daddy Daley's original proposal, but everyone south of I80 was ready to start the 2nd great Chicago fire, so he settled for registering the owners instead of the guns."
If you want a long version of what lead to the 1968 GCA. This is a good start here. It covers political events and items which led to the 1968 Gun Control Act. It also covers Thomas Dodd and the allegations that he had foreknowledge of the so called Nazi gun laws, and possibly spoke fluent German.
http://www.firearmstalk.com/forums/f97/origins-gun-control-act-1968-warning-long-26881/
It appears that Illinois' FOID might have predated the 1968 Gun Control Act. If that was the case, Illinois should have done away with the FOID when the 1968 GCA became law. Likewise, New Jersey should have given up their FID (Firearm ID) Card after 68 GCA. Massachusetts came in with their version right at the beginning of 1970 after the 1968 GCA was already in place.
Unlike how in some states where carry permits bypass NICS. That doesn't seem to be the case for the ID Cards of Illinois and New Jersey ... because these do NOT bypass NICS. I would assume it is the same for Massachusetts too.
I still maintain that the idea for the 1968 FOID scheme in Illinois came from New Jersey's 1966 FID law. I hope to expand on that in a separate post sometime in the future. Sorry for the long post, but it is important to discuss how we got here and why we got here.
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