{"id":3721,"date":"2016-01-23T16:07:47","date_gmt":"2016-01-23T22:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=3721"},"modified":"2016-01-23T16:27:36","modified_gmt":"2016-01-23T22:27:36","slug":"papers-please-a-few-words-on-state-gun-background-check-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/01\/papers-please-a-few-words-on-state-gun-background-check-laws.html","title":{"rendered":"“Papers, please”? A few words on state gun background check laws"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"foid\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Earlier this month,\u00a0President Obama announced executive actions on guns<\/a>, and conservatives both decried his actions<\/a> as unconstitutional, or at least an abuse of executive power, and at the same time unlikely to be effective<\/a> in their goals. \u00a0\u201cEnforce the laws already on the books!\u201d critics cried, and, indeed, very few of the crimes committed under existing law are prosecuted,\u00a0blamed on lack of resources and the difficulty of proving the crimes \u2014 though the NRA and other opponents of new gun legislation point to a statistic<\/a>\u00a0that prosecution has declined 40% under President Obama as evidence of his unwillingness to prosecute, and it seems to me that I\u2019ve read in the past a further rationalization that aggressive prosecution of gun-related crimes (e.g., possession by someone not legally permitted, attempts to buy, etc.) would only increase the number of young black men in jail.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s what\u2019s missing from this discussion: \u00a0crime, in general, is a state matter. \u00a0And gun legislation is, likewise, in general, a state matter. \u00a0According to The Guardian<\/a>, \u201cEighteen states . . . have enacted varying levels of mandatory background checks.\u201d \u00a0And here are the rules in Illinois:<\/p>\n

In order to acquire a firearm, one must first apply for and receive a Firearm Owner\u2019s Identification (F.O.I.D. or \u201cfoid\u201d) card, which requires a driver\u2019s license or state ID, a photograph, and a $10 fee. \u00a0This card is supposed to be issued within 30 days, though, according to Wikipedia<\/a>, processing times have recently been as long as 60 days. \u00a0A background check, of the sort otherwise done through the National Instance Background Check System, is performed on all applicants.<\/p>\n

Then, according to the Illinois State Police website<\/a>,<\/p>\n

Any person who is not a federally licensed firearm dealer and who desires to transfer or sell a firearm or firearms to any person who is not a federally licensed firearm dealer shall, before selling or transferring the firearms, contact the Department of State Police with the transferee\u2019s or purchaser\u2019s Firearm Owner\u2019s Identification Card number to determine the validity of the transferee\u2019s or purchaser\u2019s Firearm Owner\u2019s Identification Card. This subsection shall not be effective until January 1, 2014. The Department of State Police may adopt rules concerning the implementation of this subsection. The Department of State Police shall provide the seller or transferor an approval number if the purchaser\u2019s Firearm Owner\u2019s Identification Card is valid. Approvals issued by the Department for the purchase of a firearm pursuant to this subsection are valid for 30 days from the date of issue.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In other words, in Illinois, there is no\u00a0debate about whether individuals may legally buy and sell guns at gun shows, or at armslist.com<\/a>, or from your neighbor, without background checks. \u00a0And the system isn\u2019t costly (to the end user), or intrusive \u2014 FOID card validity can be checked online.<\/p>\n

Is the system effective in keeping guns off the streets? \u00a0Clearly, there are plenty of gangbangers with guns who seem to have had little difficultly finding them. \u00a0But we don\u2019t know \u2014 and can\u2019t really determine without some modeling that is unlikely to be credible \u2014 if, absent the FOID card regulations, shootings would be even higher than they are now.<\/p>\n

Does your state have a similar regulation? \u00a0And, if not, should it?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this month,\u00a0President Obama announced executive actions on guns, and conservatives both decried his actions as unconstitutional, or at least an abuse of executive power, and at the same time unlikely to be effective in their goals. \u00a0\u201cEnforce the laws already on the books!\u201d critics cried, and, indeed, very few of the crimes committed under […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":3723,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[276,252,11],"class_list":["post-3721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-foid","tag-guns","tag-illinois"],"yoast_head":"\n"Papers, please"? 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