Both bills -- touted as tools for improving the state's response to
gun violence-- passed 7-4 and now go to the House floor. The
registration bill would impose a $20 fee for each handgun a person
owns. The registration certificates, which owners would have to
carry when in possession of a weapon, would expire every five years.
Lost or stolen handguns would have to be reported to police.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel recently called for a statewide
mandatory gun registration with a $65 fee. He and his allies have
agreed to scale back the fee. Even at the lower level, a fee would
pay for improving a background-checking system that has failed to
process 100,000 mental health records, according to Felicia Davis,
Emanuel's chief of staff.
Todd Vandermyde, lobbyist for the National Rifle Association,
argued against the registration measure, saying it would increase
costs for law-abiding citizens without affecting people who have
guns illegally.
It would not prevent anyone with a valid Firearm Owner's
Identification Card from owning guns, Davis said, but it would keep
owners accountable if they illegally sell a gun or if a gun
registered under their name is used in a crime.
[to top of second column]
|
Rep. Will Davis, D-Homewood, responded that his legislation would
help police track guns that were legally purchased but later sold
and used in a crime. It would not prevent anyone with a valid
Firearm Owner's Identification Card from owning guns, Davis said,
but it would keep owners accountable if they illegally sell a gun or
if a gun registered under their name is used in a crime.
Vandermyde also argued against a new tax on ammunition. He said
it would interfere with the Second Amendment right to own firearms.
The sponsor disagreed, however. Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago,
said there's nothing unconstitutional about the 2 percent tax, which
would generate money for trauma centers in high-crime areas.
Legislative aides estimate the tax would generate between
$869,000 and $1.2 million a year.
___
The bills are
HB5831 and
HB5167.
___
Online: http://www.ilga.gov/
[Associated
Press; By SHANNON MCFARLAND]
Copyright 2012 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |