Everybody who owns firearms and lives in this state seems to have an ill conceived notion that the Government of this state has a bottomless pit of cash just waiting to be expended in the forcible confiscation of every firearm in private citizens hands.
It cannot work that way, not here anyway.
If a total ban on a firearm product is made into law, the state prosecuters will still have to have a prudent reason to believe a citizen is in possession of a banned firearm.
They will then have to notify local law enforcement from that jurisdiction to conduct a visual audit.
That doesn't mean stomping into your house and going through your things.
That means that when time, and personnel, allow, the local law enforcement will pay your property a visit and try to determine whether there are any firearms on the property that do not comply with current law.
That means it wouldn't be a great idea to have grandpa's prized, insert banned firearm here, hanging over the fireplace.
No criminal record, no incidents of problems with local law enforcement, that is most likely the extent of the "Forcible confiscation" attempt you are going to get from local law enforcement.
Now the problem lies with the fact that you may at some time decide to take Grandpa's prized, insert banned firearm here, to the local range for a fun afternoon of shooting.
You could be pulled over at any time, you could be wearing your prized F*** Blago t-shirt, you could give law enforcement "Probable cause" to conduct a search, game over, you go to jail, Grandpa's prized, insert banned firearm here, goes to the melter.
The state law makers who are blatantly anti-gun are well aware that they don't have the funds to confiscate firearms enmasse.
The state lawmakers who are blatantly anti-gun are well aware that the crooks move so often it is nearly impossible to keep track of them from one week to the next and the only way they confiscate firearms from the crooks is when they catch them redhanded with the goodies, something easier hoped for than actually accomplished.
The state lawmakers who are blatantly anti-gun are well aware that the majority of people who indulge in something they want the population to believe is an inanimate evil incarnate, these are not the same people who placed a vote in the box for them.
These "Laws" are nothing but legal harrassment of law abiding citizens, and believe it or not, most local jurisdiction law enforcement doesn't have the funds, or the desire, to play.
The people Illinois residents need to worry about aren't the computer voices on the call in check telephone lines.
The people they need to worry about are the state law enforcement officers who tag along with BATFE officers when they conduct an audit of a legitimate dealer premisis.
I have been through BATFE audits and I have seen the BATFE officers force the state representative officers to butt out when they have shown interest in a Form 4473 that had no violations but listed a firearm sale of an item that was on the 'we hope to make this illegal' list.
State guys want to copy those documents or at least photograph them and this frankly worries me far more than the call in line.
If it makes anybody feel any better, I have seen BATFE officers refuse Illinois officers requests for copies or pictures of documents that have no violations noted.
Illinois dealers do not have to make copies available to state or local law enforcement unless under court order to do so and because these are Federal, and not state documents, that court order has to come from a Federal Court.
These state law enforcement guys are from Chicago or Springfield, or both.
These state guys are the ones who are amassing the documents of who owns what and trying to get a straight answer from them is not easy.
These are the guys who may show up, jack boots and all, and try to force local law enforcement to help them force good citizens to comply or be subjected to enforcement.
I for one, only hope that the local law enforcement still decides that they don't want to play.
It will depend on the resolve of the department and the willingness to refuse the pieces of silver that will accompany the request for 'Local help in this matter.'
But wait Milo, you said the state doesn't have a bottomless pit of money.
They don't, but they can cut off funding for local departments if they choose not to comply, when and if that time may come.
Get to know your local Police, find out how they really feel about gun confiscation.
You may be suprised to find that most of them are on your side and are not really excited to be spending time turning honest citizens into criminals.
This is Illinois and Politics here is filled with dirt. oh, of course, IMMHO
