I am confused. They amended the FOID card law to require one and a waiting period to buy a Taser or stun gun, yet in the criminal code, it's illegal to carry a taser or stun gun anywhere except on your own property.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...CEF34B38DB32C296862570E800717EED?OpenDocument
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilc...eqEnd=53000000&ActName=Criminal+Code+of+1961.
So I guess you have to have a FOID card to keep a Taser in your home for defensive purposes and maybe open carry would be legal. I don't see how this law makes anyone safer. It's already illegal to carry a taser off your own property. Someone who may not want a firearm to keep in their home is now required to jump through the same hoops that a firearm owner would be.
I see little tactical application for use of a taser by a private citizen anyway, but that's another subject for a different forum.
Jeff
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...CEF34B38DB32C296862570E800717EED?OpenDocument
Taser, stun gun buyers get jolt
By Leah Thorsen
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
12/01/2005
Steven King is confident that customers who come to his Belleville gun shop to buy stun guns and Tasers have nothing but personal safety on their minds.
And he doesn't think many people would use these weapons, which fire powerful jolts of electricity, for criminal purposes.
But a new law aims to make sure that these weapons don't end up in the hands of those who may misuse them.
Beginning Sunday, the start of the new year, a person must have a state firearm owner's identification card, commonly known as a FOID card, to own stun guns and Tasers.
Those who are banned from possessing these cards include people who have been convicted of a felony or a crime involving domestic violence.
A criminal background check also will be required as of Sunday, as will a 24-hour waiting period, which is also required for long guns, shotguns and rifles.
Missouri does not have any laws regulating civilians' use of Tasers or stun guns, according to the Missouri attorney general's office.
Illinois is believed to be the first state in the country to require that an owner of stun guns and Tasers have a firearm license, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
State law already prohibits people from carrying concealed stun guns and Tasers, which are considered by many to be an alternative to more lethal forms of weaponry.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich in June signed the legislation to regulate the sale of these types of weapons.
That same day, his office issued a news release in which the governor was quoted as saying: "Tasers and other stun guns can be very dangerous in the wrong hands - the amount of voltage they exert alone can be lethal. By treating these weapons just as seriously as we treat firearms, we can make our streets and neighborhoods safer."
Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, supports the new law, too.
"We don't want them to fall into the hands of bad people either," Pearson said.
The law also has the support of Illinois State Police, a spokesman said.
Stun guns and Tasers are used by roughly 5,000 police departments around the country, and Illinois law enforcement officers are not affected by the law that takes effect Sunday.
Late last year, Taser began selling the weapons to civilians. The weapons have been criticized by several groups, who say they pose a serious safety risk to those who sustain the shock from as much as 50,000 jolts.
"This is a defensive item, and it should be taken seriously," said King, who owns the Belleville Indoor Shooting Range & Gun Shop.
King said the price of Tasers and stun guns, not the new legislation, probably will continue to make many people think twice about buying the weapons.
He sells two models of Tasers - one for $599 and the other for $999.
And firing a Taser just once depletes its $30 cartridge, King said.
Stun guns aren't cheap. King said prices range between $50 and $200.
[email protected] 618-659-3640
__________________________
What’s the difference between Tasers and a stun guns?
Tasers, which look like guns, fire barbed darts up to 15 feet. The darts remain attached to the weapon by wires.
Stun guns are hand-held devices that deliver an electric current when placed against another person or thing. An electric current is delivered through prongs at the end of the device.
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilc...eqEnd=53000000&ActName=Criminal+Code+of+1961.
720 ILCS 5/Art. 24 heading)
ARTICLE 24. DEADLY WEAPONS
(720 ILCS 5/24‑1) (from Ch. 38, par. 24‑1)
(Text of Section from P.A. 94‑72)
Sec. 24‑1. Unlawful Use of Weapons.
(a) A person commits the offense of unlawful use of weapons when he knowingly:
(1) Sells, manufactures, purchases, possesses or carries any bludgeon, black‑jack, slung‑shot, sand‑club, sand‑bag, metal knuckles, throwing star, or any knife, commonly referred to as a switchblade knife, which has a blade that opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring or other device in the handle of the knife, or a ballistic knife, which is a device that propels a knifelike blade as a projectile by means of a coil spring, elastic material or compressed gas; or
(2) Carries or possesses with intent to use the same
unlawfully against another, a dagger, dirk, billy, dangerous knife, razor, stiletto, broken bottle or other piece of glass, stun gun or taser or any other dangerous or deadly weapon or instrument of like character; or
(3) Carries on or about his person or in any
vehicle, a tear gas gun projector or bomb or any object containing noxious liquid gas or substance, other than an object containing a non‑lethal noxious liquid gas or substance designed solely for personal defense carried by a person 18 years of age or older; or
(4) Carries or possesses in any vehicle or concealed on or about his person except when on his land or in his own abode or fixed place of business any pistol, revolver, stun gun or taser or other firearm, except that this subsection (a) (4) does not apply to or affect transportation of weapons that meet one of the following conditions:
(i) are broken down in a non‑functioning state; or
(ii) are not immediately accessible; or
(iii) are unloaded and enclosed in a case, firearm carrying box, shipping box, or other container by a person who has been issued a currently valid Firearm Owner's Identification Card; or
(5) Sets a spring gun; or
(6) Possesses any device or attachment of any kind designed, used or intended for use in silencing the report of any firearm; or
(7) Sells, manufactures, purchases, possesses or carries:
(i) a machine gun, which shall be defined for the purposes of this subsection as any weapon, which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot without manually reloading by a single function of the trigger, including the frame or receiver of any such weapon, or sells, manufactures, purchases, possesses, or carries any combination of parts designed or intended for use in converting any weapon into a machine gun, or any combination or parts from which a machine gun can be assembled if such parts are in the possession or under the control of a person;
(ii) any rifle having one or more barrels less than 16 inches in length or a shotgun having one or more barrels less than 18 inches in length or any weapon made from a rifle or shotgun, whether by alteration, modification, or otherwise, if such a weapon as modified has an overall length of less than 26 inches; or
(iii) any bomb, bomb‑shell, grenade, bottle or other container containing an explosive substance of over one‑quarter ounce for like purposes, such as, but not limited to, black powder bombs and Molotov cocktails or artillery projectiles; or
(8) Carries or possesses any firearm, stun gun or taser or other deadly weapon in any place which is licensed to sell intoxicating beverages, or at any public gathering held pursuant to a license issued by any governmental body or any public gathering at which an admission is charged, excluding a place where a showing, demonstration or lecture involving the exhibition of unloaded firearms is conducted.
This subsection (a)(8) does not apply to any auction or raffle of a firearm held pursuant to a license or permit issued by a governmental body, nor does it apply to persons engaged in firearm safety training courses; or
(9) Carries or possesses in a vehicle or on or about his person any pistol, revolver, stun gun or taser or firearm or ballistic knife, when he is hooded, robed or masked in such manner as to conceal his identity; or
(10) Carries or possesses on or about his person, upon any public street, alley, or other public lands within the corporate limits of a city, village or incorporated town, except when an invitee thereon or therein, for the purpose of the display of such weapon or the lawful commerce in weapons, or except when on his land or in his own abode or fixed place of business, any pistol, revolver, stun gun or taser or other firearm, except that this subsection (a) (10) does not apply to or affect transportation of weapons that meet one of the following conditions:
(i) are broken down in a non‑functioning state; or
(ii) are not immediately accessible; or
(iii) are unloaded and enclosed in a case, firearm carrying box, shipping box, or other container by a person who has been issued a currently valid Firearm Owner's Identification Card.
A "stun gun or taser", as used in this paragraph (a) means (i) any device which is powered by electrical charging units, such as, batteries, and which fires one or several barbs attached to a length of wire and which, upon hitting a human, can send out a current capable of disrupting the person's nervous system in such a manner as to render him incapable of normal functioning or (ii) any device which is powered by electrical charging units, such as batteries, and which, upon contact with a human or clothing worn by a human, can send out current capable of disrupting the person's nervous system in such a manner as to render him incapable of normal functioning; or
So I guess you have to have a FOID card to keep a Taser in your home for defensive purposes and maybe open carry would be legal. I don't see how this law makes anyone safer. It's already illegal to carry a taser off your own property. Someone who may not want a firearm to keep in their home is now required to jump through the same hoops that a firearm owner would be.
I see little tactical application for use of a taser by a private citizen anyway, but that's another subject for a different forum.
Jeff
