Chicago's Cook County OKs gun tax to defray costs of violence

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://news.yahoo.com/chicagos-cook-county-oks-gun-tax-defray-costs-010641133.html

By Mary Wisniewski | Reuters – 1 hr 45 mins ago

HICAGO (Reuters) - The county that includes Chicago approved a tax on firearms on Friday to help pay healthcare costs from gun violence, making it what is believed to be the first major U.S. metropolitan area to enact such a levy as a form of gun control.

The Cook County Board of Commissioners voted 9-7 to impose a $25 tax on each firearm sold. The tax is expected to raise $600,000 in revenue in 2013.

With the vote, the nation's third most populous county, with nearly 5.2 million residents, becomes the first large U.S. jurisdiction to approve such a measure, the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence said.

"We want to highlight this issue of gun violence and we also want to add to our resources to address it," Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle told reporters on Friday.

Preckwinkle, who proposed the handgun tax, earlier this week abandoned an additional proposed tax of 5 cents a bullet because the tax in some cases would have exceeded the price of ammunition.

Preckwinkle said that 670 victims of gun violence were treated by the county's health system last year. The average cost per patient was $52,000.

"The terrible truth is the people who die cost us less than the people who live, because often they live with internal injuries that plague them for the rest of their lives, and we care for them," Preckwinkle said after the board meeting.

She said 70 percent of the people who came into the county health system with gunshot wounds were not insured.

There have been 443 murders in Chicago so far this year, surpassing last year's 435, and 22 percent more than in the same period a year ago, according to Chicago police.

SIMILAR PROPOSALS FAILED ELSEWHERE

Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, has called the Cook County proposal another scheme to punish law-abiding firearm owners and dealers. He said it would prompt people to purchase weapons elsewhere.

Proposals to enact taxes on buyers or sellers of guns or ammunition have failed in six states, including California, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania, said the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Tennessee has a hunting-related 10-cent tax on sealed packages of shotgun shells and cartridges that applies to sellers. The money is used to support wildlife resources.

In a separate vote on Friday, the Cook County board passed by a 12-2 vote a $2 million gun violence prevention program, which would primarily provide grants to non-profit organizations with experience in violence prevention or community outreach.

The money for the program will come from savings on consultants and outside service providers in the county's health program, according to county budget director Andrea Gibson.

The board also approved a $1-a-pack cigarette tax to help fund the public health system. That means the tax on a pack of cigarettes in Chicago will be $6.67, 19 cents short of New York City's $6.86, according to a Chicago Tribune analysis.

The board approved $41.7 million in new revenue increases in total on Friday as part of the $2.9 billion 2013 budget, Preckwinkle said.

Edited November 3, 2012 by Bad_Daddy

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_Illinois

Gun laws in Illinois

Gun laws in Illinois regulate the sale, possession, and use of firearms and ammunition in the state of Illinois in the United States.[1][2]

Illinois does not issue licenses for the concealed carry of firearms, nor does it recognize licenses issued by other states. Illinois is the only state that does not allow concealed carry in some form. Open carry is also prohibited in most areas. When a firearm is being transported, it must be unloaded and enclosed in a case.

To legally possess firearms or ammunition, Illinois residents must have a Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card, issued by the state police. Non-residents who may legally possess firearms in their home state are exempt from this requirement. There is a waiting period to take possession after purchasing a firearm — 72 hours for a handgun, or 24 hours for a rifle or shotgun. Private sales are allowed, and are subject to these same requirements. Possession of automatic firearms, short-barreled shotguns, or short-barreled rifles is prohibited.

Illinois does not have state preemption for gun laws, and some local governments have enacted ordinances that are more restrictive than those of the state.

Concealed and open carry

Illinois does not issue concealed carry licenses, nor does it accept CCLs issued by other states. It is the only state that has no provision for the concealed carry of firearms by citizens.[8] (In compliance with the federal Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act, retired police officers who qualify annually under state guidelines are allowed to carry concealed.)[9] Open carry is also illegal, except when hunting, or in a fixed place of business with owner's permission, or in one's abode. When a firearm is being transported, it must be unloaded and enclosed in a case.[10] There are several pending lawsuits challenging the state's prohibition of the carrying of firearms in public.[11][12]

Several rural counties have refused to enforce the statewide prohibition on concealed carry.

Local laws

Illinois does not have state preemption of firearm laws, and some local governments have passed laws that are more restrictive than those of the state. Some municipalities, most notably Chicago, require that all firearms be registered with the local police department.[14] Chicago also prohibits the sale of firearms within city limits.[15] Cook County has banned the possession of certain semi-automatic firearms that it defines as assault weapons, as well as magazines that can hold more than ten rounds of ammunition.[16][17] Other municipalities have also enacted various firearm restrictions.[18] Lack of preemption makes it difficult to travel throughout Illinois with a firearm while being sure that no laws are being broken.

Local restrictions on the possession of handguns

Some Illinois municipalities have laws restricting the possession of handguns.

Current laws

In Chicago, gun owners are required to have a Chicago firearm owner's permit, which costs $100 and must be renewed every three years. Before getting the permit, the resident must complete a training course that includes at least four hours of classroom training and one hour of range time. Each gun must be registered with the city, and the registration must be renewed every year, at a cost of $15 per gun. Gun possession is permitted only inside a dwelling, not in a garage or on the outside grounds of the property. Only one gun at a time may be kept in a usable state.[19][20][21] Chicago's ordinances are being challenged in court, with plaintiffs alleging that they are so restrictive and burdensome as to interfere with citizens' Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.[22][23][12]

Highland Park bars handgun possession unless the resident has obtained a permit from the Highland Park Police. The permit must be renewed every year, and the resident must attend a gun safety and training session, given by the police, every three years.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Strictest gun laws in the US yet the highest murder rate in the US. Go figure eh.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/01/chicago-homicides-reach-4_n_1929015.html

Chicago Homicides Reach 400 This Year, City Turns To Twitter For Ideas To End Violence

http://homicides.redeyechicago.com/

Thirty-seven homicides have been recorded so far in October. Forty-eight homicides were logged in October 2011, according to RedEye data.

[Dakine10 5,452]

P&R seriously needs a "post the same ####### over and over again" sub-forum.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

P&R seriously needs a "post the same ####### over and over again" sub-forum.

Start a thread on here and if it catches my eye I'l post on it.

[Dakine10 5,452]

Start a thread on here and if it catches my eye I'l post on it.

Sure. Just give me a few minutes. I need to check yahoo news for a bunch of inane random articles to copy and paste.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Sure. Just give me a few minutes. I need to check yahoo news for a bunch of inane random articles to copy and paste.

Good for you Dakine. I'm happy to see that you will actually be contributing something to P&R worth reading.

[Dakine10 5,452]

Good for you Dakine. I'm happy to see that you will actually be contributing something to P&R worth reading.

Yeah, maybe one day you could try it.

[lostinblue 1,989]

Perhaps they could have a polling tax also. Pay say $100 to vote in a national election. The liberals would be crying over that one. The right to own a gun or the right to vote What other rights can we tax?

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

well that should pretty much stop all the Gun violence in good Barry Land. Once again libtards pass meaningless feel good legislation and don't address the real problem. Which is generational dependance on government gone astray that produces children whose fate is written they day they are born.

[Danno 1,228]

P&R seriously needs a "post the same ####### over and over again" sub-forum.

Bro that forum might fit you to a "T".... as you post the same thing over and over too...........comments with no content.

Talk to the boss here and see if you can get that rolling.

I see no reason we don't name that forum after you... since you sorta pioneered the idea and all.

[Dakine10 5,452]

Bro that forum might fit you to a "T".... as you post the same thing over and over too...........comments with no content.

Talk to the boss here and see if you can get that rolling.

I see no reason we don't name that forum after you... since you sorta pioneered the idea and all.

Did I hit a nerve there Danno? We've been on this site about the same length of time. You have 10X more posts than me. All of yours are in P&R. Most of mine are not. The bulk of your posts fit into the same 3 topics. At this point, you could probably trade mark the term "Danno-Logic". Be careful who you suggest naming a forum after.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Sure. Just give me a few minutes. I need to check yahoo news for a bunch of inane random articles to copy and paste.

Make sure they're about California.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

You can not tax something that is defined by SCOTUS as a civil right. This will go to court and end up costing the county money.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

You can not tax something that is defined by SCOTUS as a civil right. This will go to court and end up costing the county money.

Chicago and Illinois itself has lost more than a few court battles over gun rights. What's going to happen is they will get sued in court, eventually lose and the tax payers will pick up the bill. Chicago is good for giving millions of tax dollars to anti violence social programs that are doomed from the get go and do nothing more than employee deadbeats. It's another liberal utopia.