In May of 2003, the Senate considered House Bill 2579. The bill was about secret compartments in cars. Quickly the bill was completely gutted and replaced by language criminalizing the acquisition of more than one handgun in a thirty day period.
Obama felt this to be a particulary important piece of legislation and goes on for more than a page about this "very measured, modest regulation" starting on page 120 of the day's transcripts.
Obama voted for House Bill 2579, as amended. The bill failed to pass the Illinois Senate.
Before that was Senate Bill 1614 in the 91st General Assembly. It made buying more than one handgun in a thirty day period a class-4 felony. Obama was a supporter of the bill.
Made it legal for someone to possess a firearm without an FOID card as long as they were in the direct supervision of someone with an FIOD card. The bill became law.
"Amends the Criminal Code of 1961. Provides that the Department of State Police shall publish a list of handguns having a barrel, slide, frame or receiver that is a die casting of zinc alloy or any other nonhomogeneous metal which will melt or deform at a temperature of less than 800 degrees Fahrenheit. Provides that a building used for the unlawful sale of firearms may be abated as a public nuisance only if the person using the building for the unlawful sale has been convicted of the offense and the Department of State Police has published the list of prohibited firearms. Effective immediately."
This bill was to notify gun owners when their gun was the subject of records request or search. The bill would have allowed the owner to have his trace information destroyed under certain circumstances. During this time Daley was trying to use trace information to use in gun manufacturer lawsuits.
Obama voted against the bill. It passed but the governor vetoed it.
"Amends the Criminal Code of 1961. Provides that it is an affirmative defense to a violation of a municipal ordinance that prohibits, regulates, or restricts the private ownership of firearms if the individual who is charged with the violation used the firearm in an act of self-defense or defense of another. Effective immediately."
Obama voted against this bill twice. It passed anyway. The governor vetoed and the legislature overrode the veto.
There may be more bills that I have yet to find. If you know of any or find any searching the legislature's site, please email me.
I am always looking for information on Obama from Obama himself. This morning I ran into this little video:
Apparently 64 pages amounts to "boxes and boxes of specifics"! So, I did as instructed and went to www.barackobama.com and looked for his blueprint. It is tough to find, but click on "Issues".
Searching the 64 pages, you will find "gun" and "firearm" exactly zero times.
In the Huffington Post, we finally get clarity from Obama himself. Taking on The Lobby makes it clear that Obama thinks California gun law should be taken national.
Quoting:
After the horror that was Northern Illinois University Thursday afternoon, Barack Obama announced Friday morning that, as a constitutional attorney, he supports the Second Amendment right to bear arms, thinks it doesn't only apply to the militia, and that he also plans to use California gun control legislation as a paradigm for a national policy to contain the spread of gun violence.
But, is it really possible to have it both ways? Can one support the right to bear arms, as well as implement the kind of national gun control legislation that will stem the flood of shootings on our nation's campuses, streets, and homes? Essentially, the question is, should Senator Obama become President Obama would he be prepared to take on the most powerful, and influential, congressional lobby outside of the tobacco industry, the gun lobby?
After the spate of campus killings at Columbine, Virginia Tech, and now at Northern Illinois, there is little doubt that the former president, and his attorney general brother, Robert F. Kennedy, would be hard at work on gun control legislation now. Obama is fond of this quote from President John F. Kennedy: "Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate," but is he any more ready for hand to hand combat with those who put their rifles next to Gideon's Bible in Motel 6's from Idaho to Alaska, those who are the most obstinant opponents of restrictions on the possession, manufacture, and sale of firearms? He suggests that he would support legislation on the order of gun laws implemented, in California, during Gray Davis' tenure as governor.
So, what does that mean? As a start, how about:
Handgun registration.
Approved firearm lists determined by politicians.
Assault weapons registrations and bans.
A fifty caliber ban.
Discretionary concealed carry.
And the list is expanding. California has passed an ammunition encoding requirement recently to go into effect January 1, 2010. So expect registration of ammunition purchases.
If this is Obama's concept of "supports the Second Amendment right to bear arms", I would hate to see what would happen to any right he does not believe in.
For a more complete view of California gun law, I suggest Calgunlaws as a start.
Amends the Criminal Code of 1961. Provides that upon recovering a firearm from the possession of anyone under 21 years of age who is not authorized by federal or State law to possess the firearm, the local law enforcement agency shall trace where the person under 21 gained possession of the firearm. Provides that upon completing a trace, the local law enforcement agency shall record its findings on a form prescribed by the Department of State Police and shall forward a copy within 5 days to the Director of State Police. SENATE AMENDMENT NO. 1. Deletes provisions that a firearms trace is not complete until enough evidence exists to make prosecution possible or until all available resources have been exhausted. Requires local law enforcement agencies to use the National Tracing Center of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms in tracing firearms recovered from persons under 21 years of age. Requires local law enforcement agencies to use the LEADS Gun File to enter all stolen, seized, or recovered firearms.
Amends the Criminal Code of 1961. Provides that the local law enforcement agency shall use the best available information, including a firearms trace, to determine how and from whom a person who is not permitted by federal or State law to possess a firearm gained possession of a firearm (now the provision applies only when the law enforcement agency recovers the firearm from a person under 21 years of age).
Amends the Criminal Code of 1961. Creates the offenses of possession of a stolen firearm and aggravated possession of a stolen firearm. Changes penalties for unlawful use or possession of firearms by felons.
Amends the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act. Requires an applicant for a firearm owners identification card to sign a release waiving any right to confidentiality and consenting to the disclosure to the Department of State Police of the applicant's mental health records from any state, the District of Columbia, any other territory of the United States, or a foreign nation for the sole purpose of determining eligibility for a card. SENATE AMENDMENT NO. 1. Provides that an applicant for a Firearm Owners Identification Card must only sign a release of his or her mental health records upon request of the Department of State Police. HOUSE AMENDMENT NO. 1. Deletes everything after the enacting clause. Limits the information disclosed to the Department of State Police to mental health institution admission information. Provides that no mental health or treatment records may be requested. Provides that the information received shall be destroyed within one year of receipt.
Creates the Firearm Liability Act. Provides that a firearm transferor is strictly liable in a civil action for death, injury, or property damage resulting from the use of a firearm that was unlawfully sold, transferred, or caused to be sold or transferred.
Provides that the plaintiff may recover punitive damages in addition to all other lawful damages, court costs, and attorney's fees.
Provides that a defendant found strictly liable under this Act must pay $10,000 in a civil penalty to the Department of State Police if the defendant sold, transferred, or caused to be sold or transferred a firearm in violation of certain provisions of the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act or the Criminal Code of 1961.
Provides that an action under this Act must be commenced within 5 years after the cause of action accrued.
Amends the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act. Provides that an applicant for a Firearm Owner's Identification Card must appear in person before a law enforcement agency and submit positive identification to a law enforcement officer before the issuance of the application to the applicant. Increases the fee for a Firearm Owner's Identification Card from $5 to $10. Provides that the additional $5 shall be deposited into the Firearm Owner's Notification Fund. Provides that the Department of State Police shall, 60 days (rather than 30 days) prior to the expiration of a Firearm Owner's Identification Card, forward to each person whose card is to expire a notification of the expiration of the card. Deletes provisions requiring the forwarding of the actual application. Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Requires the Department of State Police to forward to the Secretary of State the names, addresses, and other identifying information about holders of Firearm Owner's Identification Cards. Provides that the information shall be compiled in a database and may be accessed by law enforcement officers who enforce traffic laws.
Prohibits ownership of firearms by anyone who has ever been convicted of stalking in Illinois or a substantially similar offense in another jurisdiction.
Eliminates exemption from the unlawful use of weapons and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon statutes that permits a person who has been issued a currently valid Firearm Owner's Identification Card to transport or possess an unloaded firearm that is enclosed in a case or other container that is not a firearm carrying box or shipping box. Provides that the penalty provisions of the offense of unlawful purchase of a firearm apply to attempting to purchase firearms in violation of the statute.
Requires an applicant for a Firearm Owner's Identification Card to appear in person at a local law enforcement agency, and before receiving an application, present positive evidence of identification to a law enforcement officer.Requires the applicant to submit to fingerprinting and to a photograph.Provides that a Firearm Owner's Identification Card issued on after the amendatory Act is valid for a 3-year rather than a 5-year period.Provides that moneys in the Firearm Owner's Notification Fund shall also be used for reimbursing local law enforcement agencies for carrying out their responsibilities under the Act.
Amends the Criminal Code of 1961. Creates the offense of unlawful use of a semiautomatic assault weapon or large capacity ammunition feeding device, defined as knowingly selling, manufacturing, purchasing, possessing, or carrying a semiautomatic assault weapon or large capacity ammunition feeding device. Provides that the offense is a Class 2 felony. Exempts peace officers and members of the Armed Services or Reserved Forces of the United States and Illinois National Guard while in the performance of their official duties and wardens, superintendents, and keepers of prisons, penitentiaries, jails and other facilities for the detention of persons accused or convicted of an offense. Also exempts the manufacture, transportation, or sale of these weapons or devices to those persons.
Amends the Criminal Code of 1961. Creates the offense of unlawful use of a semiautomatic assault weapon or large capacity ammunition feeding device, defined as knowingly selling, manufacturing, purchasing, possessing, or carrying a semiautomatic assault weapon or large capacity ammunition feeding device. Provides that the offense is a Class 2 felony. Exempts peace officers and members of the Armed Services or Reserved Forces of the United States and Illinois National Guard while in the performance of their official duties and wardens, superintendents, and keepers of prisons, penitentiaries, jails and other facilities for the detention of persons accused or convicted of an offense. Also exempts the manufacture, transportation, or sale of these weapons or devices to those persons.
Feb 15, 12:14 PM (ET)By NEDRA PICKLER MILWAUKEE (AP) - Barack Obama says the country must do "whatever it takes" to eradicate gun violence but believes in the right to bear arms.Obama says he's offered his Senate office to help Northern Illinois University with the investigation into a campus shooting rampage. The shooting happened in his home state. Obama was campaigning in neighboring Wisconsin.The senator, a former constitutional law instructor, says he believes the Second Amendment to the Constitution grants individual gun rights.But he says it's subject to commonsense regulations like background checks.
I just have to ask: After everything he has said and done, does he actually think we believe or trust him?
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Democratic Sen. Barack Obama assured Western voters Saturday he believes in Jesus as well as the rights of gun owners. The presidential candidate warned people about hoax e-mails they may get saying he’s secretly a Muslim who might want to destroy the United States. “I’ve been going to the same church for 20 years, praising Jesus,” the Illinois senator told more than 10,000 people packed into Boise State’s basketball arena. He is a member of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago… …”And then there are people who say, ‘well he doesn’t believe in the Second Amendment,’ even though I come from a state — we’ve got a lot of hunters in downstate Illinois. And I have no intention of taking away folks’ guns.” Obama didn’t mention that he does support gun control and has a record of voting for it in the Illinois Senate. He backed limiting handgun purchases to one a month, but he made no attempts to ban them. Today, he stands by his support for controls while trying to reassure hunters that he has no interest in interfering with their access to firearms.
Well I have a few questions:
Barack, do you support my right to carry bowling balls? How about those extra-heavy, 15 pound, assault balls?
Do you support my right to shoot someone in my apartment who has invaded, unannounced and uninvited pointing a knife or gun at me?
How about if I live in the Chicago slums?
How about if I live downstate a mile from my nearest neighbor, 20 miles from the nearest cop?
These questions may seem completely unrelated, but according to Barack, they are not.
According to Barack, the Second Amendment is about hunting traditions from rural areas and has nothing to do with individual's rights.
And according to Barack, hunters should have access to guns while those in the inner city should be restricted because of the danger.
I am not sure where is he going with this or how he might attempt to accomplish it, but it sounds like we are heading back towards the racist roots of gun control.
He also said government should support and fund more after-school programs to keep kids off the streets. But some of the burden must also be shouldered by residents who need to do more to raise and protect at-risk children, he added."We have an entire generation of young men in our society who have become products of violence, and we are going to have to break the cycle," Obama said. "There are too many young men out there who have gone down the wrong path."He later added, "There's a reason they go out and shoot each other, because they don't love themselves. And the reason they don't love themselves is because we are not loving them enough."
CHICAGO — Standing before a church congregation that has witnessed inner-city violence firsthand, Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Sunday that more must be done to end a social ill that is "sickening the soul of this nation."
Obama told churchgoers at the Vernon Park Church of God on Chicago's South Side that too many young lives are being claimed by violence and more must be done to combat the problem.
"From South Central L.A. to Newark, New Jersey, there's an epidemic of violence that's sickening the soul of this nation," the Illinois senator told the crowd. "The violence is unacceptable and it's got to stop."
Nearly three dozen Chicago students have been killed this year, according to Chicago Public Schools. Obama said that figure is higher than the number of Illinois serviceman who've died in Iraq in 2007.
"We need to express our collective anger through collective action," Obama said.
He said the government needs to permanently reinstate an assault weapons ban and close regulatory loopholes that protect unscrupulous gun dealers.
He also said government should support and fund more after-school programs to keep kids off the streets. But some of the burden must also be shouldered by residents who need to do more to raise and protect at-risk children, he added.
"We have an entire generation of young men in our society who have become products of violence, and we are going to have to break the cycle," Obama said. "There are too many young men out there who have gone down the wrong path."
He later added, "There's a reason they go out and shoot each other, because they don't love themselves. And the reason they don't love themselves is because we are not loving them enough."
December 23, 2007 -- Barack Obama has been flip-flopping like a carp on a boat deck, changing his position over the years on everything from the death penalty to the Patriot Act to Cuba, a review of his record shows.
The Illinois senator's views became markedly more conservative as he drew close to running for president.
On the death penalty, for instance, the Oprah heartthrob was a strong foe back in 1996 when he ran for the Illinois state Senate, according to a questionnaire from a political activist group that he filled out at the time. The answers were reviewed by The Associated Press.
But this year, he's been throwing some red meat to pro-execution voters around the country by saying he supports pulling the switch on those who commit particularly heinous crimes.
On gun control, Obama changed direction since 1996, when he called for a ban on all handgun possession and sales in Illinois.
In 2004, on another questionnaire, he backed off, saying a ban is "not politically practicable."
The Joyce Foundation is a liberal, charitable foundation that, among other things, funds gun control groups. According to Wikipedia :
Since 2003, the Joyce Foundation has paid grants totaling over $12 million to gun control organizations and for research into gun violence prevention. The largest single grantee has been the Violence Policy Center, which received $4,154,970 between 1996 and 2006, and calls for an outright ban on handguns, semi-automatic and other firearms, and substantial restrictions on gun owners.
Conveniently, the Joyce Foundation has a list of the gun control funding grants here .
The Joyce Foundation's Annual Reports list Barack Obama as one of the 12 members of the Board of Directors from 1998 until 2001 .
