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First, let’s discuss. The other day, the Chicago Tribune published an article on the rise of Black Chicago residents getting legally armed to protect themselves. Under Illinois law, they need to have a FOID card to legally purchase or posses a firearm. To do a private transfer in the state (legal sale from person to person), they need to call the state police, provide FOID number of who is going to be receiving the firearm, and then wait for the state police to approve or deny the transfer. Chicago residents have no FFL’s to go to within city limits to purchase or transfer a firearm, with neighboring towns being the only option. This also is a hurdle for Chicago residents, many of which rely on public transportation to get where they need to go. Chicago’s population is made up of 30% African American, of which 32% of blacks in the city are at the poverty level, thus less likely (like many city dwellers at the poverty level)
to be using an automobile for their main transportation needs (cost of maintenance, insurance, gas). Now add on the fact that the Chicago Transit Authority (public transportation) does not allow firearms on their property:
Now, let’s get into HR8, which was re-introduced today, March 2:
The only option for Chicago residents to legally transfer a firearm would be to do so at a FFL, of which the city of Chicago itself has none. This would mean that residents would be forced to transfer ownership of a firearm outside the city limits and could no longer do so by contacting the state police (under IL law) to do a private transfer. Further, if they don’t have a car or a ride from family or friends, they couldn’t use public transportation provided by the CTA to bring their firearm home from the FFL outside of city limits and would instead be limited to cabs (forget Uber and Lyft, prohibited to bring/carry legal firearms while using their services).
In conclusion, federal Universal Background Checks would create an overly burdensome procedure to legally transfer a firearm between two legal residents of areas in places like Chicago. It would result in more otherwise innocent people becoming federal felons. Sounds like a case got a lawsuit should this pass, doesn’t it?.....