|
We are getting reports from the capitol that colleges and
universities are trying to kill HB-148.
In talks with law enforcement groups, we took buildings off limits. Then in
later talk with others, the campus was off limits, with exceptions for driving
through or leaving your gun in your car in a parking lot.
Seems now the Colleges and Public Universities who are being led by SIU, want
nothing less than a felony for any possession of a firearm on their property –
something we will not agree to. So their plan is to keep finding things to
object to so they can keep opposing the bill to try and make press and create
public opposition.
Many of you have downstate reps who are supportive, have colleges in their
districts and are the targets of these attacks along with suburban legislators
trying to play on the fears of parents who may have kids away at school. If you
have a downstate legislator who covers, Western, U of I or SIU or any other
university call them and tell them your feelings about the colleges trying to
kill the bill. Call today!
In other news the anti-gunners as you guys have seen held a press conference to
trying to gin up opposition to HB-148 by claiming that the current background
check system can’t handle the influx of handgun carry license applicants and
that the system is missing 100’s of thousands of mental health records.
Therefore, dangerous people will get guns and go out and murder people over
parking spaces or recreate Tucson.
The fact is the proposal that we are working will help fund the State Police and
better their infrastructure.
The current FOID and FTIP system was written in COBOL (there I got it right) and
is aged. They estimate they need $7 million for a new computer system. A little
more if you add in the carry permit stuff they say.
At the dog and pony show some called an approp hearing, it was clear that it was
a set up to get at sound bites to try and gain traction and gin up opposition
against HB-148.
First is the mythical 120,000 missing mental health records. This number is a
complete guestimate based upon missing records from other states, and the
extrapolating that percentage against Illinois’ population. The State Police
testified that they did not believe this number to be accurate.
Next up is the State Police computer system used to run FOID and FTIP. FTIP
(Firearms Transfer Inquiry Program) being the background check for retail
purchases. Seems it was written in that archaic computer language of COBOL.
Which from the techies I have talked to is akin to latin.
However, the legislature last session passed HB-51 dealing with procurement and
ethics and now that law is making it harder for them (ISP) to get a contract
update so they can have an upgraded system. For which they got $1.2 mill grant
from the DOJ for.
They next turn to the argument that until the system is “fixed” we should not be
passing right to carry because dangerous people might get guns and do bad
things. Which begs some questions:
Just what kind of records do they want included to determine who can have the
right to own or carry a firearm? The Department of Human Services testified that
some doctors don’t report “dangerous” people because as they said why would we
wait till they got that far gone when they are under our (the doctors) care? If
they got that ill, then the doctor would commit them and they would be reported
to DHS and then State Police via their admission.
So how many privacy laws, and sneak peeks into personal healthcare do they want?
When is enough enough? What next, mandatory reporting of everyone that sees a
doctor for anything having to do with mental health? How about marriage
counseling?
And yet at the same time, the anti-gunners want to mandate the very system they
are complaining about for all private sales. Anti-gunner claim that 60% of sales
occur at retail outlets, with 40% of sales taking place between private parties.
If that is true, then with HB-1296, they seek to dump an additional 100,000
sales and background checks into a system they say can’t handle it. Does that
make any sense? Not really, but it is a matter of convenience for them as they
simply want to pick and choose what facts or issues are covenant to their
thinking at the moment. One must ask that if the system is so bad, are they
calling for a halt of all gun sales? Should the State Police stop issuing FOID
cards?
But what the anti-gunners really did was give us the opportunity to show how
Right to Carry benefits the State Police.
The State Police estimated at the same sham hearing that they expected to see
325,000 applicants for carry permits. The fee for the permit would be $25 to the
sheriff and $75 to the State Police. The State Police tell us that it costs them
about $40 - $45 to run those background checks. So $45 from $75 leaves us with a
net of $30. $30 x 325,000 = $9,750,000. That is almost $10 million NET to the
State Police.
That is $3 million more than they need to build a state of the art computer
system. And in years 6,7,8, if you average out the 325,000 applicants that
equates to 65,000 people per year. At $50 per permit going straight to the State
Police, there is another $3.2 million a year in annual fees.
If we hit the 4% of the general population like other states have, then we would
see 475,000 permits and $15 million net to the State Police. If we hit the
Florida mark of 794,000 permits, the State Police would see almost $29 million
in upfront fees.
The fact is gun owners have a way to help improve the infrastructure of the
State Police and get them a new state of the art computer system that will help
them do their job, without trampling on the rights of gun owners.
So the question is, why do anti-gunners oppose us finding a way to help the
State Police? Why do they oppose a bill that would build a better computer and
background check system, but then want to dump as many as 100,000 more
background checks into this “incomplete” system?
Call your State Representative today, and tell them to:
Support HB-148;
Oppose the Felony provisions of anti-gun university presidents;
Support HB-148's provisions for building a better State Police Computer system
for background checks.
|