I have to say I'm shocked that 5 Non-Negative fire arms ownership editorials have been published in this paper in such a short time.   The anti's must be out of town for a tupperware party or something else.

Note: These were submitted to the paper , from external sources such as readers of the paper.
I decided to remove the submitters names  (on these  letters to the editors) for the posting here as the editor that wrote the item on the 26th  Titled "Ban assault weapons in Illinois" did not have the balls to submit his/ her name on that.  It's only fair play.




Gun rights


Published January 28, 2006

Chicago --  Regarding your recent editorial to raise the fees of firearm owner's identification cards, I couldn't disagree more. Instead of raising the fee, there should be no fee at all. Why do honest citizens have to pay a fee to exercise their constitutional rights? Unlike driving a car, which is a privilege, owning a firearm is a right guaranteed by the Constitution.

When the governor wanted to raise the FOID fee, he did so not to cover administrative costs but to put a legal impediment for owning firearms in place. Similar to the gun registration laws of the City of Chicago, these legal impediments are only in place to wear down the honest citizen, until he or she either gives up or is in violation of the law and may be arrested and/or have his or her weapons confiscated.

I am not against having a FOID (which for all practical purposes are firearms licenses) because it helps with the checks and balances to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals. But exercising constitutional rights should not come with a fee. That fee was already paid with the blood of our forefathers.

Link:http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0601280247jan28,1,5573823.story

Firearms cards


Published January 28, 2006

Oak Brook --  This is regarding "Raise the firearms card fee" (Editorial, Jan. 17). This piece reveals a stunningly narrow view of reality and basic rights under a free republic. Gun owners should be an exception--the author is comparing privileges to a basic human right, an invalid comparison. If the state wants to save money, drop the useless and absurd firearm owner's identification card altogether. Care to guess how many criminals have one?

Link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0601280252jan28,1,4066491.story

Costs of guns


Published January 28, 2006

Wheaton --  I agree that the price for issuance of a firearm owner's identification card should equal the cost of processing. It should not be an income producer. Your analogy of camping fees and driver's licenses fails since in both cases the user consumes resources. They include maintenance of the campsites and the upkeep of roads and other issues related to their use.

My owning of a gun puts no added cost on the state in terms of consumption of resources.

Please do not confuse gun ownership with crime commission and its costs; the issues are not one and the same unless you assume that I will commit a crime.


Link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0601280246jan28,1,5180606.story

Undue burden


Published January 28, 2006

River Forest --  The right to keep and bear arms is expressly spelled out in the Constitution. States cannot place an undue burden on gun ownership as it would be a violation of the 2nd Amendment. Undue burden is often discussed in relation to state abortion laws, and its precedent would be even more applicable in this case. Creating a $100 fee on owning guns every five years can be seen as a state attempt to keep citizens from owning guns. The reason we have an amendment for the ownership of guns is to ensure that the people remain powerful enough to mount a significant insurrection should the government become too tyrannical. A government moving toward stopping citizens from owning guns could be moving toward establishing tyranny.

The gun ownership cards are ridiculous from the start; to advance this system further is the height of stupidity.

Link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0601280253jan28,1,4459708.story


Uncertain effects

Published January 27, 2006

With all the claims that your editorial makes about so-called assault weapons ("Ban assault weapons in Illinois," Commentary, Jan. 26), murder rates should have soared after the Federal ban sunset on Sep. 13, 2004.

On Oct. 18 last year, the FBI released the final data for 2004. It shows clearly that for the U.S. monthly murder rate plummeted 14 percent from August through December. By contrast, during the same months in 2003 the murder rate fell only 1 percent. Curiously, the seven states that have their own assault-weapons bans saw a smaller drop in murders during 2004 than the 43 states without such laws.

Instead of you just citing gun control organizations, does it matter that there is not a single published academic study showing that these bans have reduced any type of violent crime? Even research funded by the Clinton Justice Department concluded that the effect of the ban on gun violence "has been uncertain."


Link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/moreletters/chi-gt225jesf.3jan27,1,2398645.story

GOOD!!!

what i want to know is when did the trib start to go way to the left?

what i want to know is when did the trib start to go way to the left?

They have been anti gun ownership at least since George H Bush (41) was president. They jumped on the AWB with such enthusiasm that I vowed to not give them another penny and not read their paper at all.

Or...... they could abolish FOID and do NICS checks on your Drivers Liscense like ever other state.
The FOID is a relic from the days before computers, but the anti's will never let it die because it originated with King Daley The First.

ckmorley

Have you noticed that an FOID card is not a valid piece of identification in the eyes of the Sec. of State?


Foid  issued by State police , but Not valid at the license bureau, when you get your DL renewed.

 Scroll down to Unacceptable Identification
http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/drivers/drivers_license/acceptable_id.html

Quoted: Have you noticed that an FOID card is not a valid piece of identification in the eyes of the Sec. of State? Foid  issued by State police , but Not valid at the license bureau, when you get your DL renewed.  Scroll down to Unacceptable Identification http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/drivers/drivers_license/acceptable_id.html

What a crock of s**t......So what makes it acceptable for a firearm?!@#$@#@!?

4X4SC

Hey  it beats the crap out of me.  I'm just trying to play within the freaking rules!

If that's even possable!

Quoted: Hey  it beats the crap out of me.  I'm just trying to play within the freaking rules! If that's even possable!

I know what you mean.....They just make things up as they go along with no continuity, and expect everyone to follow no questions asked. Remenber it's always our fault never theirs when the law don't work.

4X4SC

Man I just got my AR and I really don't want to have to give it up.  If it comes to that I think I would "sell" it to my dad in TN for a really good price.  At least then I would get to shoot it ever now and then.  But how does this work?  Since I am military my state of residence is TN, and I reside in IL.  I do have a FOID card, and that was a real goat rope to get.