Re: Denied Illinois FOID card

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On 2/27/08, Guns wrote:
> I don’t know whom you are talking about when you state, “we don’t want you to have guns”. Please be more specific when
> saying we, do you mean the government, or your friends, who do you mean?
> Now for the understanding the statement of police powers to regulate the firearms
****
I am not the person who made the "we" comment; that post was made by a person who uses the name “Curmudgeon.” I wrote
about an Illinois court decision which defined the scope of the term "police power." You replied to my email below.****
****
> The key words here are Subject only to the police power. The Illinois state
> constitution clearly states Illinois residents have the right to bare arms, theirs no question about that statement
> written, but also gives the police the right to regulate those arms within our society. Foid cards are not a clear
> regulation of police power; rather foid cards are an infringement on an individuals right to own a firearm under
> constituonal law. Illinois constitution says you have the right to bare arms, so foid cards are a violation of that
> right. The reason foid cards violate the Illinois Constitution is because if you do not have a foid card, then you cannot
> own a firearm in the State of Illinois, which is an infringement of that right stated within the Illinois Constitution.
> Until they change the meaning of the second amendment, foid cars do infringe citizen’s rights to bare arms, regardless of
> anyone’s personal beliefs, or wants.
*******
Well -- the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois disagrees with you but you are certainly entitled to your beliefs.
And the US Constitution specifically gives exclusive authority to the US Supreme Court to interpret the meaning whenever
there is a question about its meaning. So "regardless of anyone's personal beliefs and wants" (including yours) the US
Supreme Court is the only opinion that counts here.

As it stands now the US Supreme Court has ruled that the 2nd Amendment does not apply to state rights to control firearms.
So, until the US Supreme Court changes the meaning of the 2nd Amendment that has been accepted as law since the 2nd
Amendment was ratified in 1791, foid cards are a legitimate exercise of states rights under the Constitution.
********
>>
>> ARTICLE I, SECTION 22. RIGHT TO ARMS
>> Subject only to the police power, the right of the
>> individual citizen to keep and bear arms shall not be
>> infringed.
>> (Source: Illinois Constitution.)
>>
>>
>> "Police power" has been fairly well defined by the Illinois Supreme Court. In; THE CITY OF CHICAGO, v. DANE TAYLOR
>> (2002), the court discussed the meaning of "police power" as used in the Illinois Constitution. The considered the
>> framers intent at the time the Ill. Constitution was ratified and concluded that it allowed almost unlimited control
>> over firearms by the state. The Court also noted that since "home rule" was adopted as a provision of the Ill.
>> Constitution in 1970, individual municipalities such as Chicago may enact stricter control over firearms than is
>> provided for under state statutes. Below is an excerpt of the CHICAGO, v. TAYLOR decision which refers to another
>> decision handed down by the Court several years earlier:
>>
>> "In Kalodimos, 103 Ill. 2d at 511, the Illinois
>> Supreme Court held that a village ordinance banning
>> the possession of operable handguns did not violate
>> article I, section 22, of the constitution, concluding
>> that a ban on discrete categories of firearms, such as
>> handguns, was a constitutionally permissible exercise
>> of police power. The court reasoned that the exercise
>> of police power included the passage of laws restraining
>> or prohibiting anything harmful to the welfare of the
>> people. The court noted that a report by the framers of
>> section 22 explicitly recognized that the possession and
>> use of firearms was subject to an extraordinary degree
>> of control under the police power, because firearms posed
>> such an extraordinary threat to the safety of society."
>>
>> The US Constitution's 2nd Amendment does not contain the modifying phrase "subject to police power." There has been a
>> long standing debate as to whether the 2nd Amendment applies to states or just the federal government. The present
>> consensus of US courts is that the 2nd Amendment is not a restraint on state's rights so states are free to control
>> firearms as they see fit. However, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has recently ruled that the 2nd Amendment DOES
>> apply to states (and D.C.). There opinion is being challenged in the US Supreme Court.
>>
>> The case is now before the US Supreme Court and will resolve the question of whether the 2nd Amendment of the US
>> Constitution applies only to the federal government or whether it is also a restriction on a state's right to regulate
>> firearms. Try a search of “D.C. v. Heller” and read up on the issues of that case. It is the first time in 60 years
>> that the US Supreme Court will take on the issue of the 2nd Amendment as it applies to a state's right to control
>> firearms. If the US Supreme Court rules that the 2nd Amendment applies to states, Illinois' "police power" provision
>> may be up for a challenge in federal court.