It is hard to imagine that the man who was once a Chicago politician and the junior senator from Illinois could have no clue about the state that he once represented, but it is true. In the State of Illinois, the mandatory background checks the President and the media are now calling for has long been a reality. It is very old news.

To so much as legally handle a firearm in Illinois you need a FOID card issued by the Illinois State Police. To receive a FOID card, you fill out an application and undergo a background check. Illinois State law requires not only that you have a valid FOID card, but that you have it on your person to legally possess a firearm, or even ammunition.

"When did this happen?" some astonished folks might ask. It happened in 1968, 48 years ago. The FOID card was created in 1968 by the FOID Act (430 ILCS 65). For nearly 50 consecutive years, Illinois residents have undergone 100% background checks to be able to handle, possess, or acquire firearms and ammunition.

The liberal dream of requiring everyone who wants to buy a box of shotgun shells to break a few clay pigeons, or a box of rimfire ammunition for target shooting, only if given prior approval by government has been the law in Illinois for 48 years!

No one needs reminding that Chicago, Illinois is one of the murder and crime capitals of the United States. In fact, the #1 murder capitol of the United States is East St. Louis, Illinois.

Surely, a 48 year case study of the state of Illinois disproves the notion of universal background checks having any significant effect on diminishing crime. (Indeed, by making it more difficult for law abiding citizens to arm themselves, it encourages crime. -Editor)

In Chicago, the citadel of restrictive gun laws, 1695 people have been shot year to date (16 June 2016 @ 8:41 PM; about half a calendar year). The Chicago "Shot Clock" shows that someone is shot every 2 hours, 21 minutes.

The dimmest of wits will readily understand that the passage of restrictive gun laws is no answer. Yet, our lame duck President (a former senator from Illinois) and the clueless former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, who hails from Chicago herself (born in Chicago and raised in Chicago and Park Ridge), have failed to get the memo, ignoring all of this and deciding to declare war on the NRA and the Second Amendment. You just can't make this stuff up.