Illinois, a state that already has some of the nations toughest gun laws, just enacted even more.
Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner signed a bill last week that allows Illinois State Police (ISP) to deny an application or revoke a gun owner’s Firearm Owners Identification Card (FOID) if they have had an order of protection against them or no-contact order in regards to stalking, Guns.com reports Tuesday.
The bill would also compare Illinois’s FOID database against other states to see if other orders have been levied against a person that would also make them ineligible for gun ownership.
The bill unanimously passed both the state House and Senate in April and May, respectively.
Under the law, if a current gun owner is now deemed to be ineligible and served with a revocation order, they would have to surrender their guns and FOID card to the county sheriff. The bill also allows for a new program that would let local law enforcement serve the orders of revocation, which was something designated for ISP in the past.
The owners who have their FOID revoked would then be entered into the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which would bar them from purchasing guns in other states.
The law will go into effect Jan. 1, 2017.
Rauner also signed another bill that strengthens a law disallowing those with mental disabilities from buying guns. Under that law, which went into effect immediately, circuit court clerks would report the names of those deemed mentally disabled by a judge to the ISP twice a year.
In 2015, Deseret News ranked Illinois number eight on a list of states with the toughest gun laws. USA Today reported in April that Chicago has seen an 88 percent increase in shootings during the first three months of 2016, as compared to the same period in 2015.
More recently, Chicago saw 62 people shot over Memorial Day weekend and eight were killed, while more than 50 were wounded during the last weekend of June.
The FBI’s Uniform Crime Report for 2014 puts Illinois at the fifth highest firearm homicide rate behind Georgia, Pennsylvania, Texas and California. This is despite California having a population triple that of Illinois, and Texas having a population more than double.
Follow Craig Boudreau on Twitter.
Send tips to craig@
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
