I used to live in Palatine Illinois, right smack dab in the middle of Cook County (commonly referred to as “crook county” by freedom minded locals). Imagine my surprise when I moved to the area from Kansas and discovered the firearms I owned were illegal because I didn’t have a FOID card. I quickly went out and applied for my card then nervously awaited its arrival.
I was never comfortable in Illinois as a gun owner and was always looking for an opportunity to move out of the state. When I heard rumors of Chicago CAGE units kicking in the doors of expired FOID card owners to confiscate their firearms, I decided it was time to pull up my tent stakes and move to Indiana, which I did in 1999.
A recent article from the Chicago Sun Times tells us that Cook County Sheriffs are continuing the fine tradition of Illinois gun grabs by going door-to-door confiscating firearms from people who have expired FOID cards. Every Illinois gun owner is required to have a “Firearms Owners Identification Card” to own a firearm. If a gun owner lets the 10 year expiration date pass without renewal, they’re now illegally in possession of firearms. They won’t get a friendly reminder, instead they will hear jack boots kicking their door in to forcibly separate them from their Constitutionally protected personal property.
Think about how many times in your life you have let your drivers license expire unintentionally…
For about a decade now Chicago CAGE units have been compiling a list of gun owners. CAGE is a catchy acronym for “Chicago Anti-Gun Enforcement” and is a joint venture between the Chicago Police and the Illinois State Police. As their name implies, they exist solely to enforce gun control laws and to harass Illinois gun owners. It also appears they’re responsible for keeping a registry of Illinois gun owners.
Some will argue that such confiscations aren’t all related to expired FOID cards, and they would be right. Some of the raids are carried out to remove firearms from people who have had their FOID cards revoked and who subsequently failed to turn their firearms in. If a citizen ever sought counseling for a lost job, divorce, loss of a relative or any number of other events in life that cause people to reach out for help – they can be disqualified from owning firearms in Illinois and have their card revoked. If you have a vengeful ex-significant other, an order of protection issued against you will strip you of your Constitutional rights (and your FOID card) and could bring a CAGE unit crashing through your front door.
Anti-gunners have argued for years that gun registration is for the greater public good and will never result in confiscation. As Cook County has shown us time and time again, registration does in fact lead to confiscation every time. This is why we must fight to oppose all attempts by Congress to pass laws requiring firearms registration of any type.
MAC
MAC is an avid shooter, former Marine and an Oath Keeper. Known for his videos on the Military Arms Channel, he also writes for The Bang Switch, for Shotgun News (Be Ready!), freelances for Guns & Ammo and joined the new YoungGuns network. MAC has been a life long shooter who has an interest in all things that go “bang” but gravitates towards military type firearms.