I`m watching WGN news in Chicago and they said the gun dealer licensing bill wasn`t called up for a vote.

They just didn't have near the votes needed...They had their anti-gun folks crawling the capitol but all they took home were some disappointed selfies!

They will have another year to move this in the house so it is still alive!

So with the 2 year GA period, does the bill retain its current status next year ( i.e. approved in Senate awaiting 3rd reading / vote in the House)  or with the return of sessions in 2018 do they start over and have to go through refiling the bill, committee, hearings and passing through each chamber?

@SwanHunter

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?m=1101634704315&ca=04e6586c-a732-4721-a5b3-098994d8680a

The bill maintains its current status.  Just has to get past the House and Governor.  Should we have a change in the Governor next year, we will be in a very bad place!

So I got an email from Rep Welch today which I will post after this. It was in response to the email below sent out by gunrights4illinois in my name.
Subject: GUN DEALER LICENSING
From: Me
Date: Sun, November 05, 2017 2:00 pm
To: [email protected]

I write to you today regarding SB 1657 as well as SB 333, which shall become SFA1.

These bills will do nothing to curb violence. Criminals and Terrorists do not purchase their firearms legally from gun stores. Criminals are getting their guns through burglaries and straw purchases. This has been confirmed by a study performed by the University of Chicago in conjunction with the Cook County Jail. Criminals do not buy guns from gun stores.

What these bills will do is shut down gun stores who completely comply with Federal, State and Local laws. These bills will further create a barrier for new businesses to enter into the firearm industry. Of the firearm businesses which are left, due to increased government regulation, costs will skyrocket. These added costs of doing business will create a barrier for the poor and working class to exercise their rights and defend themselves.

Therefore I urge a NO VOTE on SB1657 and SB333, SFA1.

Please VOTE NO on all forms of Gun Dealer Licensing.

The response from Rep Welch. I removed the links that he included as examples for his argument and broke it up into parts due to character limitations.

Thanks for your email. Your message arguing against common-sense gun regulation comes just days after 26 people were slaughtered at a church by gun violence. In any other country on earth, this would be a national tragedy, because most countries on earth regulate firearms in a sensible way. In America, it's just another day in the life, where anyone and everyone has to fear being massacred by gun violence in any public space they enter.

You base this message on the idea that "Criminals and Terrorists do not purchase their firearms legally from gun stores." This sentence is absolutely false. Just one month ago, the worst mass shooting in our history was perpetrated by a man wielding legally purchased firearms. It comes one year after the previous worst mass shooting in American history, once again perpetrated by a man with legally purchased weapons.

The City of Chicago just released its "gun trace report". More than half of the guns recovered at crime scenes over the past 4 years have been purchased legally. More than 20% were purchased in Indiana, a state with extremely lax gun laws.

Part 2

Just a few months ago, Congressman Steve Scalise and several others were shot on a baseball field with legally purchased weapons.

In 2016, 3 police officers were killed in Baton Rouge with a legally purchased weapon.

In 2016, 5 police officers were killed walking in a parade in Dallas with a legally purchased weapon.

In 2016, 6 people were killed in a Kalamazoo parking lot by a shooter with a legally purchased weapon.

In 2016, 9 people were killed in a church in South Carolina with a legally purchased weapon.

In 2015, 14 people were killed by a shooter at the Inland Regional Center in California with legally purchased weapons.

In 2014, 5 people were killed a Washington high school by a shooter with a legally purchased weapon.

In 2013, 6 people were killed in an apartment complex with a legally purchased weapon.

Last part.

There's many, many more examples. In 2016 alone, guns killed over 38,000 people. No one gun law will prevent every shooting, but we know there are proven solutions that are effective at reducing gun violence. We can, and must, implement policies that will make our communities safer.

If all you are willing to do about this epidemic is offer "thoughts and prayers" for the victims, I hope you're prepared to keep offering thoughts and prayers for the new victims we'll continue to see every few months. I would rather try to save their lives by making it more difficult for these weapons of war to be legally purchased and used to massacre civilians. Most of these killings are by legally purchased weapons, and we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there are policy solutions to help stem this tide. I'm going to pursue them.

Rep. Welch

So I sent him this email that I wrote myself back.

Dear Rep Welch,

Thank you for the response to my email. Although I am not actually in your district I do appreciate the feedback.

Yes, it may be true that some of the murderers you point out purchased their weapons legally. However, the shooter in Charleston you reference was not legally allowed to buy a gun.


I fail to see how the proposed regulations on gun dealers would have prevented any of them. That said I find the number you qouted of guns killing over 38,000 people last year amazing. The reason being is because according to the FBI Uniform Crime Report for 2016 there were only 16,459 cases of murder and nonegligent manslaughter. Crime in the U.S. 2016 This includes deaths by knives, other weapons, hands, feet, etc. Can you please provide the source of your number?

I agree something should be done. Some of those things are at a Federal level such as overhauling the NCIS database to ensure no more individuals who are prohibited from owning firearms are allowed to slip through the cracks like the Texas and Charleston shooters. Other things that could be done at a state level might be introduce a program that rewards individuals for reporting those who commit crimes with guns or are in possesion of them illegally. Something else that might help would be stiffer penalties and sentences for individuals possesing firearms without a FOID card or acting as straw purchasers. It is possible to curtail gun violence without infringing on the rights of law abiding citizens. Rights that I spent 21 years in the Navy protecting. Have a wonderful Veterans Day weekend.

Commentary from Rep Willis re SB1657.   Posted to Facebook originally and then removed. Video courtesy of Springfield Armory



BTW, bill has gone back to rules committee

 10/17/2017HouseApproved for Consideration Rules Committee; 004-000-000
 10/17/2017HousePlaced on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Standard Debate
 10/24/2017HouseAdded Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Elgie R. Sims, Jr.
 10/24/2017HouseFinal Action Deadline Extended-9(b) November 10, 2017
 11/7/2017   HouseAdded Alternate Co-Sponsor Rep. Lou Lang
 11/8/2017   HouseAdded Alternate Co-Sponsor Rep. Deb Conroy
 11/10/2017HouseRule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee

What a sanctimonious reply from Rep Welch.

It's so hard to deal with the uneducated overreach and wrong-headed attempts at "doing something". I spoke to my own rep (Michelle Mussman) during her last election bid (sadly, she won). I've spoken to her many times in the past because she comes around door to door.

I asked her about her votes on gun laws in the past and she wasn't interested in hearing *any* view counter to her own. She asked me if I was "one of those people who thinks there should be no restrictions what so ever and that anyone should be able to get any type of firearm they wanted".  

I told her it was her job to also represent me, and she claimed that "everyone" wants sensible gun restrictions.

Like talking to a brick wall. Democrat's gonna Democrat.

8 people, plus Vegas and Texas is a total of 10.

10 people.  Out of 323 million.  That's  3.095975232198142e-8 %

Yet a Muslim Terrorist "doesn't represent the entire religion".

I fully expect the gun dealer licensing vote to be rewritten and resubmitted next session in January. It wasn't called for vote because it didn't have enough support in the house. Also house sponso Kathy Willis really needs to brush up on her topic if she wants it to pass.

It's not over! We won a battle, but not the war!