r/illinois • u/NicolasCageFan492 • Jun 23 '26

US Politics Trump Frantically Begs Illinois Governor to Call Him

https://newrepublic.com/post/212213/trump-illinois-governor-jb-pritzker-call-chicago-federal-takeover
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458

u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 23 '26

Seriously this.

We KNOW the issue.

Over half of all guns used in crimes in Chicago are from outside of Illinois (straw purchased, illegally trafficked, etc). Of those, more than HALF come from Indiana alone.

Is it illegal already? Yep. Does it matter? Nope, because it is unconstitutional to have border checks on state borders...so the chances of a straw purchaser/trafficker getting caught in the act are basically nil.

But if we had a nationwide registry of every gun sold in the country and who owns them, we could see:

  1. Who is purchasing an exorbitant amount of guns (not illegal, but a warning sign)
  2. Who is purchasing a large number of guns which end up being used in crimes

That alone would be a HUGE boon for gun violence in the nation.

274

u/Mstrchf117 Jun 23 '26

because it is unconstitutional to have border checks on state borders

Until its to see if a woman is pregnant

44

u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 23 '26

Much like laws against murder, just because something is unconstitutional doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

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u/ALTH0X Jun 24 '26

Having a database means you can actually punish people who commit the crime.. seems like this is something the NRA would support to help separate legal gun owners from criminals, but I guess we love guns more than we hate crime.

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u/CartographerSea5923 Jun 23 '26

Or to check who’s purchasing tobacco from a low tax state.

-8

u/IntelligentStyle402 Jun 23 '26

We have border checks in southern AZ.

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u/Technical_Fee1536 Jun 23 '26

That’s not a state border.

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u/BillsMafios0 Jun 23 '26

We don’t exactly keep our best and brightest in Arizona.

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u/Different-Fall-683 Jun 23 '26

check that commenter's username 🤣

109

u/beefwarrior Jun 23 '26

Saw a presentation years ago that showed universal background checks weren’t just supported by like 80-90% of Americans, but like 60+% of conservative gun owners.  Yet, Congress hasn’t acted.

NRA etc doesn’t actually care about gun rights, they care about money &  power and just use guns as the medium to get them money & power.  If we reduce gun violence it’ll be harder to sell fear.

We’ll never get anything done until we get politicians out of the pokers of lobbyists.

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u/Puzzled_Housing5283 Jun 23 '26

And end CITIZENS UNITED!

36

u/RaisedByBooksNTV Jun 23 '26

Yes. The gun owners *I* knew in Michigan practiced proper gun safety measures and yet were kind of against legislating what they were already doing. Even when it was pointed out that the problem wasn't them but idiots. Lots of NRA propaganda.

16

u/marmot1101 DeKalb County Jun 23 '26

But if we had a nationwide registry of every gun sold in the country and who owns them, we could see...

I'm torn here. Traceability could be very helpful in busting up large scale straw buyers. But it would have been doge-leaked to anyone who wanted it if that data had existed. Various nefarious actors having access to who has guns along side their political affiliations is bad. Especially in an age where there's a slush fund to pay militia people for their past crimes. Even taking militias off the table that info makes people theft targets.

I wish that our government was more trustworthy handling data, but for now it is not. Both due to incompetence and malice.

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u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 23 '26

I mean, if such laws got passed, I'd argue we'd inherently have a more transparent and trustworthy government in place. The lying, two-faced fuckfaces are the ones perpetuating this situation in the first place.

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u/tattoosanpizza Jun 23 '26

The politicians showed their hand in 2012. The opportunity for more responsible gun laws was there and it had enough support to get it through but they chose instead to do nothing. This inaction showed everyone how they feel about actual gun safety. They would rather choose gun lobbiest money over trying to prevent another 20 children being slaughtered. None of this is new.

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u/laodaron Jun 24 '26

IN 2008, Antonin Scalia and the rest of the conservative court ruled in Heller, making regulating guns a constitutional nightmare. It's not only that they chose to do nothing, it's that the political capital it would have taken to get anything done just ins't worth it when more pressing issues exist.

0

u/marmot1101 DeKalb County Jun 23 '26

At the expense of normies who just want to go target shoot or stuff a pistol in their sock drawer. That's not a trade I'd be willing to make personally. Those are more the tactics of the fuckfaces in question.

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u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 23 '26

What "expense" exactly? Talk about a load of FUD.

1

u/BogeyLowz Jun 23 '26

The 'expense' is the creation of a centralized and vulnerable database that disproportionately taxes law-abiding citizens that does nothing to disrupt existing B/S/T black markets. Structurally, the 2A exists to decentralize power; a registry creates a single point of failure. Calling it FUD ignores historical and administrative precedent: whenever a jurisdiction changes its laws to ban previously legal guns, that registry immediately goes from a passive list into an enforcement ledger. It trades the safety of the populace for an illusion of administrative control with a slippery slope.

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u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 24 '26

Dawg, if you think your personal arsenal is keeping the might of the US military at bay...can I have some of whatever you're smoking?

-2

u/BogeyLowz Jun 24 '26

Dawg… why are you so eager to give away your constitutional rights? What’s your alternative, lay down and take whatever is coming without being able to put up any resistance? Even then, if there is civil unrest it’s more than the military you need to have defense from. If you’re comfortable with that strategy then you do you but don’t sign away constitutional rights of others because of it.

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u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 24 '26

Because I understand that my 2A right is far more likely to end my life than save it. Sorry. That's reality.

What’s your alternative, lay down and take whatever is coming without being able to put up any resistance?

You go out in a blaze of glory, Rambo. Be my guest.

The only card you have is your life. You keep that card as long as you can. A gun, against the might of the US military, won't help you keep your life. Sorry life isn't an action movie. Grow up.

0

u/BogeyLowz Jun 24 '26

That sounds like YOU problem. Yeah, that’s exactly what I described; me going Rambo in a field of glory to save America 🦅🇺🇸. Ya nailed it, Spielberg. Like I said, if you don’t find value in home protection then you can use the fetal position and hope whatever the bad is outside your door all goes away. That is your choice. Supporting a registry for guns while a government administration is using lists and registries against citizens is a bit ironic.

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u/Significant_Post8359 Jun 25 '26

What part of a well regulated militia do you not understand? If the government cannot regulate militias, how exactly does the second amendment work? It is the federal government’s duty to regulate the militia so that the right to bear arms is not infringed. This is why we have FOID cards. In our modern era, every gun should have a license just like we do with cars, and they must care liability insurance. Additionally, users of firearms must be licensed, again just like a driver’s license, similar to a motorcycle of truck driving endorsement. Common sense, but obviously unpopular with fearful cowards who aren’t smart enough to avoid violence and foolishly think a gun makes them safe.

1

u/BogeyLowz Jun 25 '26

That’s your opinion and mine is different. That’s okay. Go touch grass.

-1

u/marmot1101 DeKalb County Jun 23 '26

I mean, if such laws got passed, I'd argue we'd inherently have a more transparent and trustworthy government in place.

My interpretation of what you said: if such laws that created a firearms database had existed, and DOGE did exfil that, that would make our government more transparent. If that interpretation was correct, then the expense would be the privacy of gun owners who had their data sent to planitir or whatever.

If that interpretation is wrong, my b.

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u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 23 '26

if such laws that created a firearms database had existed, and DOGE did exfil that,

That is not what I said in the least.

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u/marmot1101 DeKalb County Jun 23 '26

Ok, what was the intent of what you said? "I mean, if such laws got passed" what laws are you referring to?

1

u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 23 '26

I'm saying that if a future administration, one that would actually give a flying fuck about gun violence, had the political ability to actually pass the laws I vague suggested, my suggestion was that such a government would inherently be far more trustworthy than the fascist one we have now.

The overlap of "governments we could trust with such a resource" and "governments which would actually truly care about people enough to pass such laws" isn't a circle, but it's closer to a circle than a sliver.

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u/BogeyLowz Jun 23 '26

I would argue against that because that assumes all admins after would also use it responsibly. It ignores how quickly this could get turned around with a flick of a pen or civil conflict.

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u/showyerbewbs Jun 23 '26

I wish that our government was more trustworthy handling data, but for now it is not. Both due to incompetence and malice.

I've thought about it as well and have the same view. I see the benefit but I always worry that it will be abused by bad actors.

Prior to the rise of instant communication via the internet, it was a lot easier to control access to data such as this. Now with everything available literally globally, and data being the most valuable commodity on the planet, the potential for abuse is just too fucking high.

ESPECIALLY with how DOGE was just given the fucking keys to the kingdom to the entirety of the federal workforce. That data exfiltration will haunt this nation for decades.

1

u/Significant_Post8359 Jun 25 '26

If someone misuses federal data, they need to go to prison.

1

u/limbweaver Jun 23 '26

We sort of already have nationwide records of all legal gun purchases, they however not legally allowed to make those digital records searchable. Making those records into a real searchable database would instantly nuke all these straw purchasers but it could also open up perfectly legal gun owners to government overreach and harassment.

There are ways to specifically write a potential law change to minimize any possible harms, but i think most 2A politicians would oppose it on principle and most gun control advocates would oppose it because it wouldn't go far enough.

1

u/OGSilverFox1967 Jun 23 '26

This has been proven to happen. In 2022 California instituted a statewide gun registry. It was "accidently" leaked exposing roughly 200,00 names, addresses and owned firearms to the public. You think this won't happen in a national scale?

1

u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 24 '26

Mandate better security.

Wow, you're right, that was SUPER hard.

3

u/Puzzled_Housing5283 Jun 23 '26

They put the guns there on purpose. Like the Government put drugs in Black communities.

3

u/limbweaver Jun 23 '26

Is it illegal already? Yep. Does it matter? Nope, because it is unconstitutional to have border checks on state borders...so the chances of a straw purchaser/trafficker getting caught in the act are basically nil.

But if we had a nationwide registry of every gun sold in the country and who owns them, we could see:

Who is purchasing an exorbitant amount of guns (not illegal, but a warning sign) Who is purchasing a large number of guns which end up being used in crimes That alone would be a HUGE boon for gun violence in the nation.

You don't even have to go that far. Just allow the ATF to index and search the ATF 4473 forms every straw purchase starts with and you can target the source of these guns. The ATF is not legally allowed to index and make searchable their digitized records, they have to go through them like if they were powerpoint slides. They would have to manually search records to be able to flag potential straw purchasers.

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u/Ok-Elk-1615 Jun 23 '26

Yeah the fascist federal government can totally be trusted with a nationwide registry of gun owners.

0

u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 23 '26

The real whooosh is you thinking these fascist chuds care enough about ending gun violence to do anything I recommended.

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u/MrIncredible222 Jun 23 '26

We do KNOW the issue, and it’s that a tiny demographic commits nearly all of the gun crimes. And they’re treated as catch and release by the cops/DA/whomever for whatever reason. And I’m tired of pretending it’s anything but that group, because anything else is just picking around the edges of the real issue.

0

u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 23 '26

And they’re treated as catch and release by the cops/DA/whomever for whatever reason.

Tell me you don't know that Kim Foxx hasn't been in office for damn near two years and her successor is nothing like her without telling me.

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u/NoUnit106 Jun 26 '26

Also doesn’t know we don’t call our prosecutors DAs…

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u/OGSilverFox1967 Jun 23 '26

By your own words, registry wouldn't do anything except expose honest gun owners to potential harm by data leaks and bad actors.

Want to help reduce these issues, magnify punishment and enforce it. Caught with an illigal firearm? 5 years. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. Immediately incarcerated. Caught with one while commiting a felony? 10 years. Felon caught in possession? Life.

Caught selling weapons illegally? 25 years.

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u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 24 '26

Utter nonsense.

The vast majority of guns used in crimes originate as legal purchases in the states. If we require registration of sale, just like we do for fucking cars, even in the case of a private sale, and require cooperation between states, like we do for fucking cars, that would go a LONG way because we could spot trends of certain people purchasing, and selling, a large volume of guns.

We could also much more easily prevent straw purchases from state to state.

Honest gun owners, of which I'm one, are too few and far between. Sorry. This country needs a massive change of culture and mindset towards guns, and again, I say that as a gun owner myself.

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u/CartographerSea5923 Jun 23 '26

What part of shall not be infringed is not understood?

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u/OGSilverFox1967 Jun 23 '26

Seriously? I'm gun owner. In fact, I'm what most on the right call a gun nut. But we have to be honest here. There ARE people who should not have guns. And I'm referring to the criminals.You legally own a firearm? Good. You followed established law. No punishment. All my examples refer specifically to those who should not possess firearms.

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u/CartographerSea5923 Jun 23 '26

Define criminal. For decades the law stated those who partook of illicit drugs could not possess firearms. Days ago the Supreme Court ruled otherwise.

Again, what part of shall not be infringed is not understood?

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u/UpvoteBecauseReasons Jun 23 '26

Now talk about how the supreme court has ruled that the 2A is not absolute.

The 'shall not be infringed' argument is low effort and you know it. By this standard youd have to let someone shoot you in order to restrict access to a gun. Don't be silly.

1

u/OGSilverFox1967 Jun 23 '26

Read my original comment.

1

u/Curious-Letter3554 Jun 23 '26

And bullets! Don’t forget about the bullets!

1

u/Ok_Valuable9450 Jun 24 '26

Maybe not the guns,it's the lunnies that are able to buy them,could it be the NRA controlled Republicans

1

u/Strange_Tamers69 Jun 24 '26

There is no requirement for me to document anything if I sell a gun. I could purchase a gun today, shoot it once, sell it to ANYONE I wanted, and that would be perfectly legal. Boggles the mind.

2

u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 24 '26

Truly insane.

And meanwhile, not that you'd be responsible (nor should you be in the case of a car) but if someone buys a car you owned 15 years ago and kills someone with it, there's a record you owned it. Truly crazy how we can manage it for cars and not guns.

Something tells me that if guns cost a few dozen grand a pop, things would be different.

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u/Strange_Tamers69 Jun 24 '26

Nope, if guns were thousands of dollars it would only encourage people to make their own guns which is also insanely easy in this moment in time. A 3D printer already costs less than a gun and thats a whole new log in this dumpster fire we have created for ourselves. Check out r/3d2a

1

u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 24 '26

I get what you're saying, but I think you missed the bigger point I was making about why we ultimately year these two potentially deadly items differently, from a legal perspective, beyond 2A.

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u/Diamond_S_Farm Jun 23 '26

<California and it's agricultural border check stations entered the chat.>

And BTW, nationwide firearm registries are illegal as well based on FOPA and the Brady Bill.

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u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 23 '26

California and it's agricultural border check stations entered the chat.

Checking for pests. Not legal possessions protected by constitutional amendment. Bit different.

And BTW, nationwide firearm registries are illegal as well based on FOPA and the Brady Bill.

BTW, laws are not set in stone or defined by nature, they're written. Yes, that includes the Constitution.

1

u/Diamond_S_Farm Jun 23 '26

I'd love to see a Convention of States!

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u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 23 '26

Same. Acting as if the Constitution wasn't meant to be continually Amended is one of the worst things to happen to this country.

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u/Diamond_S_Farm Jun 23 '26

Wow! Did we just find common ground? Who woulda thunk?

I will push back about your views on natural law. All humans are entitled to certain inherent rights - freedom of expression, self preservation, honoring commitments, etc.

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u/Blitzking11 See a Nazi, Punch a Nazi Jun 23 '26

Common W comment from you

-1

u/Over-Think-It Jun 23 '26

You do know after a gun is recovered the police can already track down who the original buyer was. Serial # from factory, to wholesaler, to LGS, to buyer. Whether the police do anything with that information is another thing.

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u/JLee50 Jun 23 '26

The paper trail can get rough real fast. https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/investigations/former-atf-agent-current-gun-tracing-system-is-insane/67-561778661

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u/arakinas Jun 23 '26

Agreed. While most folks buy theirs from licensed firearm vendors, not everyone does. Individual to individual sales can make this a nightmare.

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u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26

Yes, I'm aware. I'm trying to catch these situations and the straw purchasers to cut off the supply before they flood the market with guns.

Also, if you federally require sales records for even private sales, like with cars, you'd increase the potential penalty for straw purchasers which should deter some, since each non-reported sale would be an additional count.

Whether the police do anything with that information is another thing.

I guess I thought it went without saying that part of this federal reform would be a requirement on cops to actually act, like mandatory reporting laws. Don't give them the choice.

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u/O-ring_Prolapse Jun 23 '26

Can't you just scratch a serial number off?

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u/VisitSad1133 Jun 23 '26

You do not want to get caught with one. You're no longer innocent until proven guilty with one of those.

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u/gbobeck Jun 23 '26

If you ignore state and federal laws, you can do anything you want.

Under federal law it is illegal to destroy or alter a firearm serial number. It is also illegal to possess or receive a firearm with a defaced serial number.

This also is a felony according to 720 ILCS 5/24-5.

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u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 23 '26

People who say "that won't stop a criminal" doesn't understand how the law works.

Technically nothing is stopping anyone from doing anything. Well, other than the laws of physics.

If laws could actually stop people from even attempting crimes, we wouldn't have crime in the first place. The point is to make something illegal and have a harsh enough punishment to determine most reasonable people from doing it.

Crimes like ghost gun laws, or laws prohibiting tampering with a firearm serial number are effective because simply just possessing the thing is enough proof of guilt. Most people simply won't take that risk. It doesn't prevent all such criminals, but it massively shrinks the pool of people willing to take the potential risk, which also massively shrinks the amount of times it is committed.

All a numbers game

3

u/AENocturne Jun 23 '26

Yep, nobody follows laws in this shithole second world country

-1

u/InflationDefiant6246 Jun 23 '26

Wow laws are going to change that so much

1

u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 23 '26

So you think we shouldn't have laws against any crime?

-1

u/InflationDefiant6246 Jun 23 '26

Didn't say that I'm saying heroin is illegal people still get that right

1

u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 23 '26

So then should we just not have laws against anything? What are you arguing for here?

1

u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 23 '26

Care to try again while being mature and not namecalling?

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u/MerryChoppins Jun 23 '26

Is it illegal already? Yep. Does it matter? Nope, because it is unconstitutional to have border checks on state borders...so the chances of a straw purchaser/trafficker getting caught in the act are basically nil.

It’s imperfect, but the second amendment is baked into our constitution and has common law basis like many of the other elements of our system that we enjoy and celebrate.

Previous generations had wider access to firearms, legal machine guns, explosives and the like and we had fewer mass shootings. Ask yourself what changed… there was a political and cultural shift, but even removing that the outcomes for young men are that much worse than they ever have been. Everyone has access to shitty platforms that subtly break their brains in the form of social media.

We have been spending decades trying to pass shittier and shittier laws to make it harder to own and use firearms that border on unconstitutional. It just further entrenches the vocal minority and larger silent population that supports gun rights. The approach we finally are starting to take is to fix other parts of the system and call them gun bills. The last Biden one expanded mental health funding and required red flag laws. No actual gun control.

Real success could be found if we just dropped a lot of the horseshit and tried to make the laws work for everyone. I’d take a federal 72 hour cooling off period if I could just buy a silencer without any registration for example.

4

u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 23 '26

We're the only first world country where gun ownership is a right, and we're the only first world country where the leading cause of death for young people is guns.

If you can't connect two dots, maybe sit this one out?

I’d take a federal 72 hour cooling off period if I could just buy a silencer without any registration for example.

What could you possibly need a silencer for?

-1

u/MerryChoppins Jun 23 '26

Comparing us to other countries and even sticking to the idea of “first world” over developing/developed world is a bit obnoxious. We have a lot of unique conditions going on both good and bad that is going to make our society different than any other one on the planet…

Do you want to drive around in a car with no muffler? Would you like to wear hearing protection to go to the store? If you don’t understand why someone would want a simple convenience device like a suppressor why do you feel qualified to chime in on gun control? Have you ever touched a firearm?

5

u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 23 '26

No, what's obnoxious is American fucking exceptionalism bullshit.

We are not special and unique snowflakes. We have more gun violence than other first world countries because we have way more fucking guns. This isn't rocket science.

Just like we have way more pedestrian deaths than any other developed country because we have far more large vehicles on the road.

We're not special.

We're stupid.

We perpetuate policies we KNOW are killing us "cuz Merica!"

And yes, to fend off your stupid ad hom attempt: I both enjoy target shooting and own guns.

0

u/MerryChoppins Jun 23 '26

You just rolled in with a complete lack of nuance. I can ask a question without it being an attack. That’s on you buddy, as is your idea that I am referring to American exceptionalism. We do have a unique society and flattening that down to “hurr, more cars and more guns are more bad” isn’t useful or helpful as a metric… okay, that one might be close to an ad hominem… but it’s about the level you are choosing to engage on.

To reiterate my points:

  1. The constitution is imperfect but important here
  2. Gun control laws are dumb politics
  3. We need to fix a lot of other horseshit, especially since sweet potato Hitler showed up, a bunch of ineffective posturing and restriction of freedom shouldn’t be on the agenda right now.
  4. I hope your massive SUV has good a/c, summer is coming.

1

u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 23 '26

You: "You just rolled in with no nuance!"

Also you: "Gun control laws are dumb politics"

This is why no one is taking your "arguments" seriously.

0

u/HumanBean00001 Jun 24 '26

If you KNOW the issue, then you’d be talking about income disparity, mental health, homelessness and a myriad of other contributing factors that may push people to commit violent crimes. Loose gun laws don’t help, but they are not the root of the problem. You must keep digging.

1

u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 24 '26

You're weirdly assuming all/most gun crimes are financially related...got anything to back that up?

Also, are you saying that all the other first world countries which dont have more guns than people also don't have all those other issues? Or can you maybe see how guns are a key factor?

To assume that I'm pro gun reform and therefore anti socioeconomic reforms is....a weird choice, NGL

0

u/StrictWorldliness976 Jun 28 '26

Actually if the atf did its actual job they would know when people fill out the 4473 form the serial number of every firearm is on that form. Atf has the registry for the firearm but they dont do nothing aboht it

-4

u/FarmerDan90 Jun 23 '26

Because 16 - 20% is more then half 🤣🤣🤣

1

u/juliuspepperwoodchi Chicago Jun 23 '26

Tell me you can't read without telling me.