I had found out that Gary Martin was a felon and therefore any firearm possession was against the law, both in Illinois and at a Federal level. What came as a surprise was that he had passed the much celebrated (and held as standard by Anti Gunners) Illinois Firearms Owner Identification process with a felony conviction on him plus many other arrests.
The excuses fabrications began to fly.
Now, she ain’t your typical ignorant Liberal bimbo, she is a lawyer that used to work for the government.
Illinois FOID does run a background check and even continues to run more after the issuance of the card according to the Chicago Tribune.
Before issuing a FOID card, the Illinois State Police runs the name through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System or NICS, an electronic database maintained by the FBI, to determine if an applicant has a criminal record or other violations that make him ineligible to own a firearm.
Once the card is issued, the State Police reruns each cardholder through the FBI system every 24 hours and revokes the card of anyone who has incurred a recent infraction.
Background checks for guns are the norm in Illinois
The interesting part is that when Gary (asshole) Martin went to get his concealed carry license after he bought a gun, the background check was performed and it was denied because his previous conviction popped up. I might be wrong but the FOID section and te CCL section although different departments are both run by the Illinois State Police. How come one found the felony conviction and the other one did not? His CCL application was denied, his FOID card was suspended and he was ordered to surrender his weapon.
He never did.
And the best part: All of this happened in 2014.
This is a low-hanging-fruit-type of arrest. felon in possession of a gun and applying for a CCL? I wish I could get a scratch-off ticket that assured of a win. But yet, the Illinois State Police did not go after Martin, why? Big speculation on my part, but maybe face needed to be saved? The much touted as example FOID needed to be protected from besmirching? Or maybe whomever ran the failed BG check or gave approval to the FOID cashed in a big ass favor? All of the above? No idea, but the inaction came back to kill 5 innocent people.
Democrats in Congress are trying to sell the idea that Universal Background Checks as the new panacea, the “This time is for sure” will be able to end Gun Violence and Illinois’s FOID was a big part of examples they always use. That is no good and we need to keep reminding people of its tragic failure.
And before I go, I do call your attention to the irony of Illinois fighting for so many years against Concealed Carry and it was the reason Martin was found to be a Felon. Sad that they did not act upon it.
The foid system is still better than having to go get permission or a permit to purchase a gun from the sheriff. With my foid I can purchase at a retailer or the internet or private owner. The internet must be shipped to an FFL and the private owner must do an online background check
Wait … Once the card is issued, the State Police reruns each cardholder through the FBI system every 24 hours
They run their entire database through the NICS system every 24 hours? Not only that, when they get one that flags they send them a form letter saying to turn their guns in? No SWAT raids, no visits from Officer Friendly, no follow up?
I’m shocked at the stupidity here, and that takes a lot. If Illinois is like Florida, (I’m going to say that because I think concealed carry gun owners are one population) less than 1/1000 of 1% would need to be revoked. What a waste of computer time! Then one person gets flagged every few days (Wild A**ed guess) and they essentially do nothing at all about it?
It’s such a perfect example of government idiocy you’d think Ayn Rand wrote it.
Why didn’t they go after him, and confiscate his firearm?
Not because the police were trying to save face. While I can agree that a single individual might do that, an entire department has too many scapegoats, and too good of a public relations department.
No, my belief is that they did not go after the gun because they do not have enough police to carry out enforcement. The failproof FOID and CCL system is so effective that the police budget probably did not include a single red cent for enforcement.
Mass confiscation isn’t ever going to happen in this country. For example – Here in NY, part of Cuomo’s SAFE Act was that pistol permits now required “recertification” with the State Police. The most populous county in upstate, Erie County, which houses the Buffalo Metro area, has roughly 1/3 of permit holders who have failed to comply with the recertification so far, for whatever reason. I’ve heard this number estimated at well over 10,000. The State Police repeatedly informed permit holders that their permits would be cancelled if they didn’t recertify. So now what? If the permit is cancelled, does the person now lose their ability to possess the pistol? If so, are the State Police going to kick in thousands of doors to take firearms from people made felons by the stroke of a pen? Nevermind that the Heller decision guarantees the right to have a handgun in the home.
They don’t have the will, and even if they did, they don’t have the people.
According to Second City Cop, at least the Chicago area prosecutors have stopped pressing felon-in-posession charges, no matter how clear cut the case. As in “gun was found tucked in his wasteband” means NO CHARGES. Perhaps the same “ideals” are at work in Aurora?
Maybe. We know how much influence Cook County has on other locations.
I used to live in that area. There is enough difference between Cook and Kane counties to exceed statistical anomaly thresholds, but for a lot of legal purposes the two counties might as well be married filing jointly.
Not only that but that means he falsified his FOID and CCL applications never mind the 4473 by checking he wasn’t a felon all of which are felonies themselves.