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ISRA Legislative Update: Asking HB2795 (Preventing Veteran Suicides) be brought to the floor for a vote


EdDinIL

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The ISRA sent out an email to members asking this bill, along with a yet-to-be-proposed amendment, be brought to the floor for a vote.  It's listed in the pinned 103rd GA bills thread as Under Review, and I assume that's still the case.

 

Link to bill: https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?DocNum=2795&GAID=17&GA=103&DocTypeID=HB&LegID=147922&SessionID=112

 

Email:

 

Quote

Rep. Greg Johnson filed HB2795, which was an omnibus bill to help prevent Veteran Suicides.  One provision in the bill allowed a veteran to take their firearms in a moment of crisis to a Federal Firearm Licensee (FFL) for safe storage.  ISRA reached out to FFLs of Illinois for their perspective on this issue.  Certainly, FFLs want to do anything they can to help prevent veteran suicides, but the concerns raised by the industry revolved around liability for FFLs that would participate in this cause.


ISRA researched the issue and found legislation in the Virginia Legislature that would have created a tax credit for the purchase of safe storage devices such as locks, gun vaults, and safes.  The sponsor agreed to add an amendment that would create the Firearm Safety Tax Credit.  This would be a $300 tax credit for the purchase of safe storage devices for Veterans who are in crisis and qualify for the provisions of the act.  Specifically:


· Eligible Veterans that are in the duress of crisis who have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder or have expressed contemplating suicide


· $300 refundable tax credit for the purchase of safe storage devices


· Up to $5,000,000 is allocated to this tax credit annually.


· Program administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs


HB2795 is still being negotiated based on other parts of the proposed legislation.  We encourage ISRA members to contact their legislators and ask that this bill be given consideration for a vote on the House floor.

 

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Of all the events that have happened in Springfield over the last several years ISRA has chosen this one to be proactive about? I found it in my inbox this morning and immediately began to wonder why, after years of insubstantial information and fund raising, this legislation is of interest to them. What table are they trying to wangle a seat it this time? 

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Let’s see.  A moment of crisis comes on a Saturday evening.  All FFLs are going to be closed or a good drive away.

 

If we simply eliminated the FOID and waiting period anyone (not just a veteran) could hand their firearms to a trusted friend for safekeeping on Saturday night…

 

Sometimes the simplest solution is the best.  😀

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On 3/31/2023 at 11:59 AM, mauserme said:

Given some of the ISRA'a history on bills like FOID Modernization, I would like to see the amendment before taking any action on this.  I encourage others to exercise  caution.

 

On 3/31/2023 at 9:50 PM, Felixd said:

Of all the events that have happened in Springfield over the last several years ISRA has chosen this one to be proactive about? I found it in my inbox this morning and immediately began to wonder why, after years of insubstantial information and fund raising, this legislation is of interest to them. What table are they trying to wangle a seat it this time? 

 

On 4/1/2023 at 3:55 PM, mauserme said:

I did notice that Rep Kifowit is a cosponsor.  She's all about taking firearms away from military, active and retired, via restraining orders and such.

 

On 4/1/2023 at 5:54 PM, THE KING said:

Sounds like another back door confiscation scheme.  

 

And the ISRA is on board.  Go figure 

 

It's the opposite of confiscation. The bill specifically allows veterans the opportunity to store their firearms instead of surrendering them to cops in a moment of crisis.

 

That said, I think the bill is poorly constructed, as is the Virginia law after which it is patterned. It separates out veterans and provides them with a tax incentive to purchase firearm storage units (safes, cabinets, whatever). It's a little fuzzy, but "eligibility" for the tax credit appears to depend not only on being a veteran, but voluntarily self-identifying as being "in crisis." A better idea would be to allow any veteran at any time to take advantage of the tax credit, without calling attention to a potential mental state Even better would be not to differentiate between veterans and non-veterans. Give everybody the tax credit or no one.

 

My perception of Kifowit is not that she wants to take away all firearms. As an Aurora city councilman she once tried to end the city's AWB. That didn't go well. As a state rep, her angle is to advocate for veterans. (She used to be a Marine corporal.) She appears to believe that firearms make people want to commit suicide. ("Gee, I have this gun. What could I do with it? Wait, I know. I can kill myself.") Whether she actually believes that or whether that's part of her angle on appealing to a constituency I can't say. I think it's unfortunate, if not outright distasteful, that it leverages a stereotype of veterans as mentally unstable.

 

I suspect ISRA's angle is similar, if not the same. ISRA is trying to figure out an angle for wider acceptance among the general public. It has picked veterans as a potential inroad. It's not some plot to further the cause of red flag laws or statewide confiscation. It is, at most, painfully transparent ineptitude. It traded (i.e., allowed) universal background checks in exchange for getting FOIDs that effectively never expire. Perhaps finally in recognition that that was a bad move, it's trying to win back the support of the people it lost. (I say "perhaps," because I doubt that it recognizes it made a bad move, only that it recognizes that everyone else thinks it made a bad move.)

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Gun safes for everyone could be funded as "infrastructure" since the government can print trillions for whatever it wants to fund. That is, if "public safety" were a priority.

All those guns that flow like water from Indiana to Illinois would be protected from theft, correct? But not, public safety is not a priority. Blaming guns is a fundraising ploy.  

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On 4/1/2023 at 8:27 PM, mikew said:

Is that not the part of the bill that was going tp be removed?

 

If I understand correctly, the part that's proposed to be removed is:

 

HB2795 said:

...

430 ILCS 68/5-57. Storage services.

(a) In order to better prevent suicide by veterans, military members, and their families, an expansion of safe storage of firearms and reduced access to lethal means in the community is encouraged.

(b) A certified licensee who provides a service of allowing a person to temporarily store a firearm on the certified licensee's premises in a storage locker, box, or container that is locked and not accessible to the certified licensee does not thereby create a special relationship, for civil liability purposes, between the certified licensee and the person who temporarily stores the firearm on the certified licensee's premises.

...

 

430 ILCS 68 is dealer licensing.

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1. You’re singling out a “sub group”, not a tax credit for “everyone” who wants to buy a safe for their firearms. They would rather they get stolen, blame you and make you a prohibited possessor if they can.


2. It’s for those in “crisis”, so you bet the noble looking government reaching out so generously to “veterans”, has a clinched fist waiting to strike, next they will make the FFL contact the ISP when such a transfer occurs, then BAM red flag and you don’t get it back, and you can’t buy anything EVER. But they won’t do that till at least 1 more session and hide it in a bill for something like safe child toy act.


3.  It’s the ‘V’ word. Sadly I think they are using them.

     From their perspective - How can you not support a bill for our veterans and their families? Don’t you care about our        veterans? If you don’t support it your a ###hole! 
Maybe some of us have seen this scene in the movie before.
 

4. If they really cared they would allow someone to give it to a friend, family member, FFL, gun store, without doing a transfer or paying a fee, and they get it back at some point or can sell it, without issue. That is something that should apply to everyone in that situation. If they were serious, they would do something like that, but they are using slight of hand to smack someone down later.
I don’t trust Illinois politicians, especially the ones that belong to the current ruling party.

     


 

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