Emanuel proposes statewide gun registry
Comments (...)(MCT) — Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants a statewide gun registry in Illinois, an idea some lawmakers quickly dismissed Thursday as ineffective and an insult to gun owners.
The proposal would require anyone who buys a handgun to pay a $65 registration fee. To register a gun, a purchaser would need to provide his name, address and phone number, along with the weapon's manufacturer and serial number and the place and date of purchase. The registry would be in addition to the firearm ownership standards all gun owners must already meet.
Emanuel, picking up the gun control agenda started by predecessor Richard Daley, said a registry could help reduce the flow of illegal guns into Chicago from around the state by making it easier for police to figure out where they came from.
"I'm introducing this because our law enforcement community, our parents, our community groups, our block and neighborhood watch groups need a proper gun legislation to complement all the other activities we're doing," Emanuel said.
Downstate Rep. Brandon Phelps called Emanuel's initiative a "slap in the face of every law-abiding gun owner."
"It's never going to work," said Phelps, D-Harrisburg. "They're trying to go after criminals. They're never going to register their guns. They won't pay the fee."
In Springfield, gun control issues are often as much about geography as partisanship. Downstaters tend to oppose gun control measures, while lawmakers from Chicago and some suburbs tend to support them.
Emanuel is not unaware of the tough road he'll encounter at the Capitol.
"I didn't go into this because I thought it was a slam-dunk. You don't need me for that," Emanuel said at a Thursday news conference with police Superintendent Garry McCarthy and others at a youth center in the Roseland neighborhood to announce the proposal. "You don't need my political capital for the easy things. You use your political capital for the tough things that are the right things to do."
The mayor didn't get immediate public support from Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn. While the governor campaigned on a statewide ban on assault weapons, he said Thursday that he would reserve his opinion on Emanuel's gun registry plan. Quinn wants lawmakers to first weigh in and "give their wisdom."
Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, said the plan "would probably have no chance of passing."
The National Rifle Association quickly pounced on both the philosophy and the fee.
"The last time we checked, Rahm Emanuel was mayor of Chicago — not emperor of Illinois," said Stephanie Samford, NRA spokeswoman. "This legislation would make self-defense a luxury item."
Republican Rep. Rosemary Mulligan of Des Plaines said she'll support the mayor's bill when it's introduced in the coming weeks. Mulligan, whose father died from gun violence in Chicago just before Thanksgiving 1967, said she has family who work and live in the city now.
"If you're the mayor, you have to worry about people being shot," Mulligan said. "There just seems to be a murder a day at least."
Sen. Kwame Raoul said he supported the mayor's proposal but also plans to seek a more comprehensive "middle ground discussion."
"I think what the mayor is probably getting at is the fact that what is more helpful toward preventing gun violence is preventing gun trafficking," said Raoul, D-Chicago. "To the extent to which we can track the transfer of guns and keep track of guns, it does nothing to harm the rights of law-abiding gun owners."
But Raoul said he does not know that the mayor's proposal could pass if considered "in isolation."
Tribune reporter Monique Garcia contributed.
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