10-28-2015, 06:52 PM
Another Local Attempt to Reduce Gun Violence in Chicago - Straw Purchase Crackdown on Gun Shops
The village of Lyons on Tuesday took a step toward keeping guns out of the wrong hands, approving an ordinance aimed at cracking down sales to straw purchasers.
The ordinance comes about three months after anti-violence activists filed a civil rights lawsuit demanding three suburbs do more to stop guns from reaching the streets of Chicago.
Straw purchasers have clean records that allow them to get an Illinois firearm owner’s identification card. With a FOID card, they can buy guns for people banned from owning them. They sign a federal form saying they’re the “actual” buyer when they really aren’t.
Lyons expects to be dropped from the suit since the ordinance fulfills many of the lawsuit’s demands.
The village’s ordinance will require Midwest Sporting Goods to undergo at least two random inspections by Lyons police and the Cook County Sheriff’s police. The store will have to pass an inspection for an anti-theft safety plan that will include exterior lighting, surveillance video cameras, alarm systems and the safe storage of weapons and ammunition.
It will also require the store to provide information on legal FOID cardholders who are denied purchase of a gun to Lyons police within 48 hours. And the shop’s employees must undergo background checks.
The store also must share with Lyons police any “trace” information about prospective illegal gun purchases it already is required to send to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives or the Illinois State Police. The store must also maintain a “do not sell” list, and record all people who buy multiple guns within a 12-month period, according to the ordinance.
Lyons and the Cook County Sheriff’s police will work collectively in doing inspections and sharing documents. The store’s business license could also be pulled if there are more than two violations of regulations, the ordinance said.
Full story: http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/7/71/10...-purchases
The village of Lyons on Tuesday took a step toward keeping guns out of the wrong hands, approving an ordinance aimed at cracking down sales to straw purchasers.
The ordinance comes about three months after anti-violence activists filed a civil rights lawsuit demanding three suburbs do more to stop guns from reaching the streets of Chicago.
Straw purchasers have clean records that allow them to get an Illinois firearm owner’s identification card. With a FOID card, they can buy guns for people banned from owning them. They sign a federal form saying they’re the “actual” buyer when they really aren’t.
Lyons expects to be dropped from the suit since the ordinance fulfills many of the lawsuit’s demands.
The village’s ordinance will require Midwest Sporting Goods to undergo at least two random inspections by Lyons police and the Cook County Sheriff’s police. The store will have to pass an inspection for an anti-theft safety plan that will include exterior lighting, surveillance video cameras, alarm systems and the safe storage of weapons and ammunition.
It will also require the store to provide information on legal FOID cardholders who are denied purchase of a gun to Lyons police within 48 hours. And the shop’s employees must undergo background checks.
The store also must share with Lyons police any “trace” information about prospective illegal gun purchases it already is required to send to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives or the Illinois State Police. The store must also maintain a “do not sell” list, and record all people who buy multiple guns within a 12-month period, according to the ordinance.
Lyons and the Cook County Sheriff’s police will work collectively in doing inspections and sharing documents. The store’s business license could also be pulled if there are more than two violations of regulations, the ordinance said.
Full story: http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/7/71/10...-purchases