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50% reduction in IL FFLs?


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full story at link

 

https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/more-than-illinois-gun-dealers-have-yet-to-get-state/article_07d8cb2c-a74a-11e9-a614-9f1bae743c57.html

 

...More than half of Illinois’ 2,351 federally licensed gun dealers haven’t yet applied for state licenses required by the state’s Firearm Dealer License Certification Act, which takes effect Wednesday.

 

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the state's Firearm Dealer License Certification Act on Jan. 18 after taking office. Lawmakers held the measure over from the previous General Assembly after former Gov. Bruce Rauner vowed to veto it. Rauner had previously vetoed a similar bill. He said it would lead to small businesses closing and make it harder for people in rural and urban areas to legally buy firearms.

 

The law Pritzker signed added regulations for gun stores that business owners have said are too burdensome. The law requires gun stores, including pawnshops that want to sell firearms, to have a state license on top of a federal license. It’s set to take effect Wednesday.

 

In June 2019, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives reported there were 2,351 licensed dealers in Illinois. Illinois State Police officials said Monday that 1,140 applications for state licenses were submitted. That's a difference is 1,211, or more than half the federally licensed dealers in the state. However, it’s unclear how many of those 1,211 federal license holders are big box stores, which are exempt from the state certification law. The vast majority of stores impacted are expected to be small business gun dealers.

 

Several gun stores have announced that they planned to close because of the new law.

 

“As we expected, this was never about accountability, or regulating an industry, it was about driving gun dealers out of business and making it harder for people to have access to their Second Amendment rights,” said FFL Illinois Executive Director Todd Vandermyde.

 

“I’m thrilled 1,100 gun dealers have applied,” said state Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Brook, who sponsored the measure. “I think it's a real success.”

 

Harmon said it’s too early to comment about reports of gun dealers that have already closed or have decided to stop selling firearms.

 

“I don’t think we have the facts to reach that conclusion,” Harmon said nothing he hasn’t seen the entire list. “A lot of the [Federal Firearms License] holders are kitchen-table dealers, someone who’s engaged in the transaction on a limited basis. It would make sense for them to not seek certification” as the process continues to unfold...

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“I’m thrilled 1,100 gun dealers have applied,” said state Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Brook, who sponsored the measure. “I think it's a real success.”

 

Isn't that (almost) an admission that the law's true purpose is to shut down dealers? I mean, if courts will use Trump's words against him then that should cut both ways.

 

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I would bet that there is some civil rights lawsuits already in the works.

 

 

It's unfortunate that they can't sue Harmon directly for lost income.

 

 

As I posted elsewhere, but for the life of me I can't find the original press bulletin about SB337, the Firearm Dealer License Certification Act is predicted to take more than $50 million out of the Illinois economy by 2030, comprised of all connected and ancillary monies. If more than half of the FFLs in the state are put out of business, the lost revenues, sales taxes, income taxes from employee wages, and all of the fees that are made off of those businesses will EASILY exceed $50 million.

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It's only been 6 months!!!!
That's some great campaign material for whoever his opponent may be next election cycle. "Upon becoming Governor, JB Pritzker immediately signed a bill into law that shuttered 1200 small businesses within the first 180 days of his administration."Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk
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It's only been 6 months!!!!
That's some great campaign material for whoever his opponent may be next election cycle. "Upon becoming Governor, JB Pritzker immediately signed a bill into law that shuttered 1200 small businesses within the first 180 days of his administration." Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk

 

That's what I was getting at..

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How is the legislation worded to exempt "big box stores"?

They are not exempt. This is a mistake in the article. They were exempted if <20% sales volume in firearms under 1657, but that provision is not part of SB337.

They do get a break on the license fees if over some number of locations. (40?) don't remember the exact number,

 

I suspect in addition to the obvious (kitchen-table FFL's dropping out), "casual" big box FFL's who derrive small portion of their revenue from FFL activities would quit, too. Imagine the cost for video surveillance and storage of video recordings for a 50-100,000 square foot Walmart, Ace hardware, or Farm & Fleet.

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It's only been 6 months!!!!
That's some great campaign material for whoever his opponent may be next election cycle. "Upon becoming Governor, JB Pritzker immediately signed a bill into law that shuttered 1200 small businesses within the first 180 days of his administration." Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk

 

 

Same thing for the opponents of the ILGA members who wrote, passed, and then held the bill up until Rauner left office so Pritzker could sign it, avoiding the veto that Rauner had previously done on an identical bill.

 

By the way, I am still mystified at how they did that. I thought that once a session came to a close, any bill that wasn't signed by the Governor before the session ended was dead.

 

Did they rewrite the Illinois Constitution or something and I didn't notice?

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There should be a lawsuit filed for conspiracy to close down dealers and for making it expensive and difficult for Americans to exercise their Constitutional right.

Have we FOIA'd all of Harmon's correspondence (emails, texts, etc.) with other legislators and activists on this bill? Would be interesting to see if one of the goals was reduced numbers of FFLs.

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There should be a lawsuit filed for conspiracy to close down dealers and for making it expensive and difficult for Americans to exercise their Constitutional right.

A lawsuit would be morally right, but that doesn't count for anything. Probably not a viable legal case here, very unfortunately.

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My local guy, a home based ffl dealer, closed shop. We had a long talk about it and he was unwilling to comply with the new surveillance rules or charge his customers what it would cost for him to make it worthwhile. I have only been purchasing guns for 15 years but every transfer had gone through him, and the new regulations killed his supplemental retirement business overnight.

 

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There should be a lawsuit filed for conspiracy to close down dealers and for making it expensive and difficult for Americans to exercise their Constitutional right.

 

A lawsuit would be morally right, but that doesn't count for anything. Probably not a viable legal case here, very unfortunately.

There was much talk early on of filing suit against this but don't know of one. But then again, with so much of the law still being defined and "by rule" with nothing submitted to JCAR yet, how do you file against something they are enforcing but hasn't been formally defined and approved?
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There should be a lawsuit filed for conspiracy to close down dealers and for making it expensive and difficult for Americans to exercise their Constitutional right.

Have we FOIA'd all of Harmon's correspondence (emails, texts, etc.) with other legislators and activists on this bill? Would be interesting to see if one of the goals was reduced numbers of FFLs.

I'm pretty sure that was their main goal. Where is steveTA84?

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There should be a lawsuit filed for conspiracy to close down dealers and for making it expensive and difficult for Americans to exercise their Constitutional right.

Have we FOIA'd all of Harmon's correspondence (emails, texts, etc.) with other legislators and activists on this bill? Would be interesting to see if one of the goals was reduced numbers of FFLs.

I'm pretty sure that was their main goal. Where is steveTA84?

 

 

So, if it turns out that it was an actual, behind-the-scenes stated goal to drive down the number of small FFLs (or FFLs period), would that be considered unconstitutional because it is legislation that is specifically and prejudicially targeting a class of people (FFL holders)?

 

Also, if that is indeed the case, couldn't the Federal government get involved, because the state would be deliberately interfering with a Federal regulatory process?

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FFLs aren't a protected class of citizens and challenging it as an occupational license is a sure loser because all that is needed is rational basis. Have seen occupational license statutes requiring 1600 hours of training to "thread hair" upheld. Completely asinine garbage upheld simply because "well if the legislature thinks it's necessary then alrighty." Economic liberty is something courts have tossed to the wayside. The right to make a living, be successful, not have the government put up so many barriers to entry (occupational licensing) that it's impossible to even enter that market or stay in it.

 

The only action here would be a straight up 2A action. Maybe some Supremacy Clause count but I doubt that'll fly. Plead that the licensing regime is designed to drive down FFLs as there IS a right to engage in firearms commerce. They can't price people out of the job market with "reasonable regulations."

 

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