ISRA Alert - To Our FFL Friends: SB 337

Published: Wed, 07/17/19

Letterhead
Dear FFL Friend,
 
One of the most onerous state requirements for firearms dealers is now the law of the land in Illinois.
 
As you well know, Senate Bill 337 was passed in the 100th General Assembly but was never sent to then Governor Bruce Rauner because 2nd Amendment rights opponents knew he would veto it. After Governor JB Pritzker was sworn in as Governor, SB 337 was sent to him even though the 100th General Assembly had ended and the 101st General Assembly had already begun.
 
The law requires federally licensed gun dealers to obtain a state license to sell firearms. Federal licenses cost $90 for three years. A dealer with no posted hours must pay $300 for a three-year license – more than 300 percent of what the cost of a federal dealer license is. If a dealer has posted hours (even as little as one hour) the dealer must pay $1,500 for a three-year state license – more than 16 times the cost of a federal license. 

According to a recent news report from the Center Square, there are 2,351 federally licensed firearms dealers in Illinois but only 1,140 of those dealers applied for states licenses – a difference of 1,211 or more than half the number of federally licensed dealers.  

There are now more than 1,200 local businesses no longer in business thanks to this law. It is a blow to the 2nd Amendment and to the Illinois economy. This law was never about public safety. It was always intended to have a chilling effect on the firearms industry, and it is working. It is a blow to the 2nd Amendment and to the Illinois economy. The ISRA will keep fighting to get this onerous law overturned.

The Illinois State Rifle Association is challenging this terrible new law in court. These court challenges are not cheap and we would love for you to contribute to help us continue our court challenge by joining our organization and to help us recruit new ISRA members.  Many more members  would really help us fight bad laws like this, and you can help!

We are asking you to print our membership forms and to urge your customers to join the Illinois State Rifle Association. Growing our membership will help us be in a better position to stop bad bills like SB 337 from becoming law in the first place. We need your help to grow our membership.
 
Please click here and print our membership form and place it in your store and encourage your customers to fight for firearm dealers by joining the Illinois State Rifle Association. 
 
Thank you for your time and consideration. We will continue to stand up for firearms dealers and to defend our 2nd Amendment rights. This is our mission and with your help we can continue our streak of 16 successful court challenges in a row.



Sincerely,

Richard Pearson
Executive Director 
Illinois State Rifle Association

For more information on the 2nd Amendment issues facing Illinois, log onto www.isra.org.

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