Private party gun transfers in Illinois

With all the hoopla surrounding guns after every mass shooting, we are told that it is so easy to buy a gun.  "All you have to do is go on the internet".  Well, under federal law that is somewhat true.  Armslist, the main site used to buy-sell-trade guns, is simply a place to advertise what you have.  They have nothing to do with the sale, anymore than Craigslist has anything to do with the car you may have bought from someone on there.

Under federal law, you may transfer a weapon to another person residing in your state as long as you have no reason to believe that person is prohibited from possessing firearms. link here

I have to admit that I had no idea it was that easy.

In my home state of Illinois, admittedly not the most gun-friendly place in the country, things are a little different.

In the 1960s the state of Illinois adopted the firearm owner's identification card, aka FOID card.  Illinoisans really don't like the FOID card.  We see it as an encroachment on our rights that we have to have a special id in our wallets that we must show to buy a gun, ammunition, or technically even handle a gun in a shop.

These cards are not carry permits, just id cards that allow you to have something to do with guns.  In accepting the FOID, Illinoisans avoided registration of guns.  So, it's not all bad.

If you wanted to transfer/sell a gun a few years ago, you had to exchange foid card numbers and keep the person's info and foid number for 7 years (I think).  This was all well and fine, but there was no way to know if the person's foid was really valid or if the person was just released from an institution and the state police just hadn't gotten around to confiscating his/her card yet.  Yes, that happens quite a bit.

So, now days, we have a new protocol to follow.  We now have a website that we must run the buyer's foid number on.  This site is instant and will approve or deny the sale.  If the sale is approved, the seller is given an approval number that he/she must keep for 10 years.  It actually works pretty slick and gives me some peace of mind that I didn't just hand a gun to someone that the cops are looking for.  In short, it covers my butt.

Along with that requirement we are also required to report lost or stolen guns to authorities.  Well duh!  Oh yeah, we are also required to observe a one day wait for a long gun and a 3 day wait for a handgun.  Does it work?  In my experience it does.  I'm not saying that the whole nation needs to adopt the foid card, but this instant background check is a no brainer to me.