German Gun Control and the Illinois FOID

by Raymond Benwood

April 29, 2002

�Laws that forbid the carrying of arms, disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.� --Cesare Beccaria, quoted by Thomas Jefferson

In 1968 a new gun control act was passed in response to race riots in some of our major cities. From this Act a whole new generation of gun control laws were created in the states. In 1992 Jews for Preservation of Firearm Ownership Inc, published Gun Control: Gateway to Tyranny, which contains the actual text of pre Nazi, and Nazi gun control laws. In Gateway to Tyranny, JPFO shows the stark comparison between the 1938 Nazi law and our 1968 Gun Control Act. In fact evidence exists in the library of congress, that the late Senator Thomas J Dodd, who was the chief framer of the '68 Act, owned a text of the Nazi weapons law. Gateway to Tyranny exposes the usage of terms and phrases in Nazi law, and how they were deliberately applied to our '68 Gun Act. Its obvious that the late Senator Dodd, who was a lawyer at Nuremberg, must have liked what he saw in the Nazi gun laws, since he used them as a guide when he wrote our '68 Gun Act.

With passage of the '68 Act another door opened under the color of law, this time in the state of Illinois. Since white liberal racism energized the '68 Act, seeing it as a tool to further their socialist agenda, Mayor Daley Sr. of Chicago used his influence to bring about a Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card in Illinois as a response to race riot concerns in Chicago. The FOID card was believed to be a powerful tool, to keep guns out of the hands of certain groups in the state deemed dangerous to Daley. Gateway to Tyranny shows that the Nazis both created and used gun control laws that were legally passed. One such terrible law was the Waffen Oder Munitionserwerbscheins (German for "License to obtain a weapon or ammunition"), a firearms Owners Identification permit (FOID). The Illinois FOID card, like the German permit, was designed to force gun owners to comply with the new law, by requiring the use of the permit (FOID) for the legal purchase of ammunition. 

The stark comparisons between the Illinois FOID and the laws created and used by the Nazis are not just a matter of terms and phrases, but are synonymous in their intent. In Germany �the district police administrated the application process.� In Illinois, �the state police administrates the application process.�

In Germany, �a record keeping system was required for the transfer of handguns with the requirement that the records be kept for a period of 10 yrs and must include a description of the firearm.�

In Illinois, �any person within this state who transfers or causes to be transferred any firearm shall keep a record of such transfer for a period of 10 yrs and must include a description, serial number, or other information identifying the firearm and must include the transferee FOID number.�

In Germany, �a valid permit was required for transfer of a firearm, commercial or private.�

In Illinois, �a valid FOID is required for transfer of a firearm, commercial or private.�

In Germany, �all records were subject to police inspection on demand.�

In Illinois, �on demand of a peace officer such transferor shall produce for inspection such record of transfer.�

In Germany, �the police maintained a list of the identities and personal information of all licensees.�

In Illinois, �the state police maintain a record of all FOID cardholders.�

In Germany, �license denial could be made by race, inimical behavior or those deemed unreliable.�

In Illinois, �Chicago requires registration of all firearms and acceptance is near impossible and reports of FOID denial for bad attitudes have been reported else where in the state.�

In Germany, �certain permits were valid for up to 3 yrs.�

In Illinois, �the FOID card is valid for a period of 5yrs.�

In Germany, �a prohibition for the transfer of a firearm and ammunition to adolescents existed�. 

In Illinois, �a prohibition for the transfer of a firearm and ammunition to adolescents exists.�

There are requirements for the transportation of a firearm. In Germany, �a certain type of permit was required.�  In Illinois, �a valid FOID is required, and the firearm must be unloaded and properly cased.�

In Germany, �good Nazis could legally conceal carry, if they were issued the proper permit.�

In Illinois, �no conceal carry law exists.�

It should be obvious by now, as it was in Gateway to Tyranny, comparing the German gun laws to our '68 gun act, that the framer of the Illinois FOID Act had knowledge of German gun control laws, used by the Nazis and annotated those ideas into the Illinois FOID Act. There has been a misconception in Illinois and around the Nation, that a statute passed by Legislators bearing the appearance of law constitutes the law of the land. The constitution is the supreme law of the land; for any statue to be valid, it must be in agreement. Marbury vs. Madison, 5 (2 cranch) 137, 174, 176, (1803) states �All laws which are repugnant to the constitution are null and void.� Many laws have been passed, but that does not make them lawful. Laws like the Illinois FOID card violate original intent of the 2nd Amendment of a general prohibition against state and federal legislation that infringes the right of the people to keep and bear arms.

The potential abuse of laws like the Illinois FOID are apparent, and should be repealed immediately. Illinois, under the color of law, has the potential of being the first state in the Union to impose a complete gun ban, with door to door confiscation, an act of Treason!

Today we live in a nation where the wearing of a swastika or a confederate battle flag patch or the questioning of the Holocaust, brings about a violent reaction in some people.

So why are so many people willing to accept the same types of laws that were the foundation of Genocide? Why do the big pro gun groups not fight against such laws that are so obviously unconstitutional and morally wrong? Our rights are self-evident and must be defended, if we are to remain FREE! 

Raymond Benwood
Free Illinois

Permission to reprint-republish granted

Reference Material:

1) �Gun Control: Gateway to Tyranny� by Jay Simkin and Aaron Zelman, available at www.jpfo.org, Hartford, WI. (262)-673-9745 

2) �Nazi Firearms Law and the Disarming of the German Jews� by Stephen Halbrook Ph.D. Attorney, available at www.stephenhalbrook.com/article-nazilaw.html 

3) Firearm Owners Identification Act for the state of Illinois

4) Senate doc. 2807 Feb 1982 on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, available at www.barefootsworld.net/senate82.html