Bail was set at $150,000 today on weapons-related charges for a Brighton Park man already on parole in an attempted murder case after beat officers saw him firing a gun near his home this week.
Edgar Jasso, 29, faces charges of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and reckless discharge of a firearm, and also has been charged with violating his parole for a 2005 attempted murder case, according to police and court records.
via chicagotribune.com.
This story is what I’ve been talking about for years! Grrr….
Turns out a LOT of Illinois residents don’t know how gun laws work in the State of Illinois. First off, if you want to touch a bullet or a firearm in Illinois you must first acquire a FOID — Firearm Owners I.D. — card.
To get your FOID you must apply to the Illinois State Police who takes your application, conducts a background check to make sure you’re not a felon, and that you’ve never been arrested for a weapons charge or convicted of any domestic violence, and then they send you your FOID.
In Illinois possession of a single bullet without a FOID is a felony.
In Illinois you cannot buy any firearm or ammunition without presenting a valid FOID card. Neighboring states are aware of Illinois’ laws; so when you buy ammo in either Indiana or Wisconsin and they ask for your drivers license, when they see you’re from Illinois they always ask to see your FOID card.
Additionally, when you go to purchase a firearm you must show your FOID and then hold-out for the waiting period (3 days for handguns, 1 day for everything else) and the FFL that sells you the firearm must perform an instant background check w/ the BATF/FBI.
This idea that people are buying guns in Illinois w/out a background check is absurd.
As an aside, I’ve already covered that it’s illegal to convict a felony for NOT getting a FOID card prior to acquiring a firearm. Yes, really. Check out the link. It’s self incrimination to apply for a FOID when you know you can’t have one.
This is why gun registries will never work. Criminals will never register their guns. And honest folks will immediately become criminals by not registering their guns. … Well that and history shows that gun registries have never solved a single crime.
But I digress…
18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) is the federal firearms law that states that felons are barred from possession of any firearm. It’s a mandatory sentence of not less than a year. But get this. If the person has 3 or more felony convictions then the minimum sentence is 15 years.
Why is State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez not sending these goons to the Feds? They the federal government house, feed, try, sentence, and punish these guys. Would save the state millions and get these career criminals off the streets. It’s a win-win.
UPDATED: Corrected some bad grammar and added two paragraphs.