McHenry Times

It’s a thumbs down from state Rep. Steve Reick (R-Woodstock) on HB 1091, a bill requiring FOID card applicants to provide an electronic copy of their fingerprints to the Illinois State Police.

He strongly suggested that the House should wait for the bill that is being discussed in the Senate.

“Wait for the bill to come over from the Senate,” Reick stated. “Don't pass this bill. Let's wait for the Senate to do its work and send the agreed bill over here. You might end up with some Republican votes on it. If what you're trying to do is just get yourself some talking points that you can take on the campaign trail next year, you’re doing a fine job, but if you want something that actually works let's wait for the Senate to send their bill over and let's see if we can vote on it thank you. Vote no.”

Illinoisans have the right to own a gun, he said.

“Owning a firearm is enshrined in our constitution,” Reick added. “It's a fundamental liberty that we enjoy because we're Americans and requiring us to make fingerprints available so that we can do that, I'll be honest with you, I think that there is an argument there that it could be also a 4th Amendment violation of my rights of unreasonable searches and seizures.”

He also pointed out that lawmakers should come after violators and not responsible gun owners.

“If you want to do away with gun violence in Illinois, one of the best ways to do it is to enforce current law, which is to arrest and prosecute straw buyers — those are the guns that are being bought out of the back of somebody's car, were bought legally from an FFL by somebody who had no intention of doing anything other than handing it off to somebody else,” Reick said. "You go to a crime scene and what happens is, you find a gun you can trace the gun through the serial number unless it's been filed off. You know where that gun was bought, find out who bought it, prosecute them, send them to jail. Don't go sending innocent law-abiding gun owners halfway across the county to get a fingerprint.”

The bill “Provides that the Illinois State Police shall deny an application or shall revoke and seize a Firearm Owner's Identification Card previously issued under the Act if the Illinois State Police finds that the applicant or person to whom such card was issued is or was at the time of issuance subject to a civil no contact order or a stalking no contact order.”

The GOP also thinks that shortening the validity of the FOID card could contribute to the existing FOID application backlog.

The bill would also require that the State Police shall establish a portal for law enforcement use and records are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.