Due to the explosive gun crimes that continue to plague the city of Chicago, Illinois State Senator Julie A. Morrison (D-29) introduced a bill that would give judges the power to seize guns from a firearm owner. The bill, SB 1291 would create a “Lethal Order of Protection” whereby the firearms of Illinois residents could be confiscated if a family member or “law officer” files a petition stating the gun owner “poses an immediate and present danger of causing personal injury to himself, herself, or another by having … [a firearm] in his or her custody or control.”
SB 1291 includes an inclusion of “ex parte” orders, which means an order to take the guns of an Illinois resident could be issued without that resident’s presence during the process in which the order was issued. The order, issued by a judge, would be established exclusively on a brief, unsubstantiated affidavit made by a petitioner and absent any input made by the individual on which the order is targeted, according to the NRA-ILA.
Once the order is signed by a judge, the firearm owner must “(1) refrain from having in his or her custody or control, owning, purchasing, possessing, or receiving additional firearms for the duration of the order; and (2) turn over to the local law enforcement agency any firearm, Firearm Owner’s Identification Card, or concealed carry license in his or her possession.”
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