A Devious Attack Upon Gun Owners

Time and again, we hear that registration of firearms is simply an administrative tool. It is not an attempt to limit ones ability to legally purchase or own a firearm. Then a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request reveals the true nature of such registration.

The State Attorney General of Illinois has ordered the State Police to release the names of all registered gun owners in Illinois with the date of expiration of the Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card to the Associated Press. In the past numerous such requests have been processed with each being denied, but now there is a new mood in the Statehouse and as such the privacy, and safety, of Illinois citizens is being placed at risk by their desire to obey the laws and register their firearms.

At present a court order has enjoined the State Police from releasing the information, but one can only imagine that in a state which has a city, Chicago, with some of the most restrictive gun ownership laws in the country; it is only a matter of time until the courts permit such release.

GOP Rep. Aaron Schock sent a letter to State Attorney General last week signed by 12 representatives from Illinois asking her to revoke her order. Madigan's office sees it simply as a matter of information which can be released. The Representatives see it differently.

In the letter the Representatives point out that it could become a criminal's shopping list of people who have guns which might be stolen, and it also reveals those without guns which might be easier targets. Schock compares it to releasing a list of people with burglar alarms.

The letter also adds this delicious tidbit, "Publicly releasing the personal information of gun owners seems more like an intimidation tactic to discourage the lawful ownership of firearms than a way to serve the public interest."

Folks, that is the point exactly. The elitists in our country seem intent upon disarming the general populace. Registration and the possible release of such information can serve no useful purpose other than to coerce law abiding citizens and give the governing entity a tool to suppress those citizens should dogmatically aggressive zealots be elected to high office.

Recent history has shown just such a possibility. Let us not grow weary in the defense of our constitutionally guaranteed rights to own and bear arms. Remember, the cost of freedom is eternal vigilance.