Mayor Daley Plans "Final Solution" for Illinois Gun Owners

Capitalizing on Democrats' new control of the Illinois legislature, Daley today will unholster three new statewide gun control proposals that would boost the cost of a firearm owner's ID card, lengthen the wait to buy a handgun and raise the penalty for having a secret gun compartment in a car. He's also resurrecting a measure requiring gunmakers to test-fire their products and record the unique "fingerprint" they leave on bullets.

"With a new General Assembly, there is a new sense of optimism about our agenda," a City Hall source said. "Each of these bills could save lives."

Daley is expected to unveil his gun-control package this morning at Chicago police headquarters. He has invited legislators he considers key to the success of the measures, including Senate President Emil Jones Jr.

Jones "has supported components of it in the past," said a Jones spokeswoman, Cindy Davidsmeyer, adding that Jones probably won't attend because of a prior commitment.

"In the past, when the Republicans controlled the Senate, most of these measures wound up dying in subcommittee," she said. "We are taking the stance on legislation, in general, that it will get a fair hearing."

Davidsmeyer pointed out that while Jones supports many of the bills, the Democratic caucus is not unified on the gun control issue.

Sen. John J. Cullerton (D-Chicago), the Judiciary Committee chairman, acknowledged that many Downstate Democrats oppose gun control.

"Suburban Republican women legislators are becoming more and more supportive of reasonable gun control measures," said Cullerton, sponsor of the test-firing proposal. "The divisions are more regional than partisan."

Sources said Daley is promoting nine separate gun-control recommendations, six of which were previously introduced in the General Assembly and died.

City Hall is awaiting a reaction from Gov. Blagojevich, who pushed for gun control as a state legislator and congressman. Under attack from gubernatorial opponent Jim Ryan, Blagojevich backed away from at least one of those positions.

"I will not raise the price of a FOID card--not one dime, not one nickel," Blagojevich was quoted as saying in a stump speech in October in Pike County.

As a state legislator, Blagojevich had unsuccessfully sponsored a bill to increase the five-year fee for a Firearm Owner's Identification card from $5 to $500--an issue Ryan used against Blagojevich in TV commercials Downstate.

Now Daley is proposing to raise the fee for a FOID card from $5 for every five years to $25 per year to cover new security measures that would require every applicant to be fingerprinted and photographed in person, sources said.

Blagojevich would oppose any increase in the price of a FOID card, but he supports some of the other measures Daley is pushing, including the test-firing of guns and closing gun-show loopholes. Blagojevich's spokesman, Billy Weinberg, said he could not comment on the entire package because he had not seen it.

Daley's package includes a measure to crack down on a "cottage industry" that equips vehicles with secret compartments for drugs and guns, sources said.

Sometimes the compartments have defense systems so sophisticated they require the car radio to be tuned to a certain station and the transmission placed in neutral for the trap door to open, police said. The penalty for having such a compartment would rise from a misdemeanor to a Class 4 felony carrying up to three years in prison.

The mayor also wants a 10-day "cooling off" period before a buyer can take possession of a gun--up from three days, sources said.

Daley will reintroduce six other proposals: a ban on assault weapons such as Uzis; a ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines; a one-gun-a-month purchase limit; background checks for firearms bought at gun shows; state licensing of gun dealers, and a requirement for gunmakers to test-fire every gun sold in Illinois for a computer database on the unique "fingerprint" each gun leaves on a bullet. The database would allow investigators to link bullets to guns.

"We have met with the mayor's office to discuss these proposals and we do support them," said Marcy Jensen, a spokeswoman for Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine.

FOID cards - HA! Pretty cool that they've been licensing out a citizen's Constitutional [b]RIGHT[/b] for years now. That could start a really great trend:

Illinois Compiled Statutes
Public Safety
Free Speech Identification Card Act
430 ILCS 65/

(430 ILCS 65/0.01)
Sec. 0.01. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Free Speech Identification Card(FSID) Act.

(430 ILCS 65/1)
Sec. 1. It is hereby declared as a matter of legislative determination that in order to promote and protect the security, safety and welfare of the public against potentially racist, sexist, homophobic, malicious, violent or other hate-speech which is already prohibited by state and federal "Hate Crime" laws, it is necessary and in the public interest to provide a system of identifying persons who are not qualified to speak freely in public within the State of Illinois by the establishment of a system of Free Speech Identification Cards, thereby establishing a practical and workable system by which law enforcement authorities will be afforded an opportunity to identify those persons who are prohibited by existing state and federal "Hate Crime" laws from speaking and communicating freely in a public forum.

(430 ILCS 65/1.1)
Sec. 1.1. For purposes of this Act:
"Speech" and "Speak" means any form of communication including but not limited to:
(1) Any forms of written communication, including words and pictures, distributed by, but not limited to: paper, courier, mail, facsimile (fax), artwork, newsprint, books, periodicals, paintings, flyers, brochures, posters, sculptures, banners, advertising signs, electronic mail, internet websites, photographs, film, video, drawings, animations, quiltwork, skywriting or any other means to display words or images in any language or code.
(2) Any form of communication through sound using transmission or broadcast media, including but not limited to: telephone, cellphone, internet, television, public or private radio frequencies, citizen band radios, ham radios, walkie-talkies, or any other electronic communication device regulated by the FCC in any language or code.
(3) Any other form of communication through sound, including but not limited to: music and sound effects.
(4) Any nonverbal communication or body language, including but not limited to: hand gestures, mouth gestures, sign language, facial expressions, or any other voluntary or involuntary means of communication through body stances, looks, breathing patterns or eye-contact.
(5) Any of the aforementioned forms of communication that are observable from any public or semi-public place, business, park, street, plane, car, boat, train, bus, school, sidewalk, alley, meeting area or anywhere else other than the person's own private residence (except as described in part (6) of this section).
(6) Any of the aforementioned forms of communication that may occur in the presence of any minor children including within the person's private residence whenever children may be present anywhere within that private residence.

(430 ILCS 65/2)
Sec. 2. Free Speech Identification Card required; exceptions.
(a) (1) No person may speak freely within this State without having in his or her possession a Free Speech Identification Card previously issued in his or her name by the Department of State Police under the provisions of this Act.
(b) The provisions of this Section regarding free speech do not apply to:
(1) Any duly elected or appointed Government official at any level of city, county or state government.
(2) That's all.

(430 ILCS 65/3)
Sec. 3. (a) Except as provided in Section 3a, no person may knowingly communicate, or cause to be communicated, any form of expression or speech from any person within this State unless the communicatee with whom he deals displays a currently valid Free Speech Identification Card which has previously been issued in his name by the Department of State Police under the provisions of this Act.
(b) Any person within this State who communicates or causes to be communicated any form of expression or speech shall keep a record of such communication for a period of 10 years from the date of communication. Such record shall contain the date of the communication; the description, content or other information identifying the content and form of the expression or speech; and, if the communication was completed within this State, the communicatee's Free Speech Identification Card number. On demand of a peace officer such communicator shall produce for inspection such record of communication.

(430 ILCS 65/3a)
Sec. 3a.
(a) Any resident of Illinois who has obtained a Free Speech Identification Card pursuant to this Act and who is not otherwise prohibited from speaking, expressing or communicating may also speak freely in Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Wisconsin or Kentucky.
(b) Any resident of Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Wisconsin or Kentucky or a non-resident, who is 18 years of age or older and who is not prohibited by the laws of Illinois, the state of his domicile, or the United States from speaking, expressing or communicating freely, may also speak freely in Illinois.

(430 ILCS 65/4)
Sec. 4. (a) Each applicant for a Free Speech Identification Card must:
(1) Make application on blank forms prepared and furnished at convenient locations throughout the State by the Department of State Police, or by electronic means, if and when made available by the Department of State Police; and
(2) Submit evidence to the Department of State Police that:
(i) He or she is 21 years of age or over, or if he or she is under 21 years of age that he or she has the written consent of his or her parent or legal guardian to speak freely and that he or she has never been convicted of a misdemeanor other than a traffic offense or adjudged delinquent, provided, however, that such parent or legal guardian is not an individual prohibited from having a Free Speech Identification Card and files an affidavit with the Department as prescribed by the Department stating that he or she is not an individual prohibited from having a Card;
(ii) He or she has not been convicted of any felony under the laws of this or any other jurisdiction;
(iii) He or she has not been convicted of any form of Hate-Speech including making racist, sexist, homophobic, malicious comments or expressions;
(iv) He or she has not been a patient in a mental institution within the past 5 years;
(v) He or she is not mentally retarded nor a member of the the Free Republic Website;
(vi) He or she is not subject to an existing order of protection prohibiting him or her from speaking freely; and
(vii) He or she has not been convicted within the past 5 years of Hate-Speech, verbal abuse, obscenity, or a substantially similar offense in another jurisdiction committed before the effective date of this amendatory Act of 2002;

(a-5) Each applicant for a Free Speech Identification Card who is over the age of 18 shall furnish to the Department of State Police either his or her driver's license number or Illinois Identification Card number.
(b) Each application form shall include the following statement printed in bold type: "Warning: Entering false information on an application for a Free Speech Identification Card is punishable as a Class 2 felony in accordance with subsection (d-5) of Section 14 of the Free Speech Identification Card Act.".

(430 ILCS 65/5)
Sec. 5. The Department of State Police shall either approve or deny all applications within 30 days from the date they are received, and every applicant found qualified pursuant to Section 8 of this Act by the Department shall be entitled to a Free Speech Identification Card upon the payment of a $5 fee. $3 of each fee derived from the issuance of Free Speech Identification Cards, or renewals thereof, shall be deposited in the "Fight Hate-Speech Fund" in the State Treasury; $1 of such fee shall be deposited in the General Revenue Fund in the State Treasury and $1 of such fee shall be deposited in the Free Speech Notification Fund. Monies in the Free Speech Notification Fund shall be used exclusively to pay for the cost of sending notices of expiration of Free Speech Identification Cards under Section 13.2 of this Act. Excess monies in the Free Speech Notification Fund shall be used to ensure the prompt and efficient processing of applications received under Section 4 of this Act.

(430 ILCS 65/6)
Sec. 6. Contents of Free Speech Identification Card.
(a) A Free Speech Identification Card, issued by the Department of State Police at such places as the Director of the Department shall specify, shall contain the applicant's name, residence, date of birth, sex, physical description, recent photograph and signature. Each Free Speech Identification Card must have the expiration date boldly and conspicuously displayed on the face of the card. Each Free Speech Identification Card must have printed on it the following:

"CAUTION - This card does not permit bearer to UNLAWFULLY speak or express themselves."

Before December 1, 2002, the Department may use a person's digital photograph and signature from his or her Illinois driver's license or Illinois Identification Card, if available. On and after December 1, 2002, the Department shall use a person's digital photograph and signature from his or her Illinois driver's license or Illinois Identification Card, if available. The Department shall decline to use a person's digital photograph or signature if the digital photograph or signature is the result of or associated with fraudulent or erroneous data, unless otherwise provided by law.
(b) A person applying for a Free Speech Identification Card shall consent to the Department of State Police using the applicant's digital driver's license or Illinois Identification Card photograph, if available, and signature on the applicant's Free Speech Identification Card. The Secretary of State shall allow the Department of State Police access to the photograph and signature for the purpose of identifying the applicant and issuing to the applicant a Free Speech Identification Card.

(430 ILCS 65/6.1)
Sec. 6.1. Altered, forged or counterfeit Free Speech Identification Cards.
(a) Any person who forges or materially alters a Free Speech Identification Card, or who counterfeits a Free Speech Identification Card commits a Class 2 felony.
(b) Any person who knowingly possesses a forged or materially altered Free Speech Identification Card with the intent to use it commits a Class 2 felony. A person who possesses a Free Speech Identification Card with knowledge that it is counterfeit commits a Class 2 felony.

(430 ILCS 65/8)
Sec. 8. The Department of State Police has authority to deny an application for or to revoke and seize a Free Speech Identification Card previously issued under this Act only if the Department finds that the applicant or the person to whom such card was issued is or was at the time of issuance:
(a) A person under 21 years of age who has been convicted of a misdemeanor other than a traffic offense or adjudged delinquent;
(b) A person under 21 years of age who does not have the written consent of his parent or guardian to speak freely, or whose parent or guardian has revoked such written consent, or where such parent or guardian does not qualify to have a Free Speech Identification Card;
(c) A person convicted of a felony under the laws of this or any other jurisdiction;
(d) A person who engages in Hate-Speech;
(e) A person who has been a patient of a mental institution within the past 5 years;
(f) A person whose mental condition is of such a nature that such person poses a likely potential of offending any other person or persons or the community; For the purposes of this Section, "mental condition" means a state of mind manifested by racist, sexist, homophobic attitudes.
(g) A person who is mentally retarded or is a member of The Free Republic Website;
(h) A person who intentionally makes a false statement in the Free Speech Identification Card application;
(i) A person who is subject to an existing order of protection prohibiting him or her from possessing a firearm;
(j) A person who has been convicted within the past 5 years of Hate-Speech, verbal abuse, obscenity, or violation of an order of protection, or a substantially similar offense in another jurisdiction, in which a offensive speech was used or possessed; or
(k) A person who is prohibited from speaking freely by any Illinois State statute or by federal law.

(430 ILCS 65/13)
Sec. 13. Nothing in this Act shall make lawful the free speech which is otherwise prohibited by law.

It's not just a gun...

It's A "Homeland Defense Rifle"!

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Daley asks gun control legislation