Chicago-area man charged with 27 straw buys :: 02/06/2022

The state of Illinois has a lot of gun control laws. One of the most onerous, at least in my opinion, is the requirement to have a FOID before purchasing a firearm.

We’re told such laws actually reduce criminals getting guns, particularly due to straw buys. After all, if you have an owner’s permit, you’ve been doubly checked or something.

Honestly, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.

What I do know is that FOID requirements sure didn’t stop this guy.

A 34-year-old Dolton man faces federal charges after allegedly buying 27 handguns under his own name, but then giving them to another person.

Matthew Jamaal Johnson was charged with 12 counts of making false statements, with each charge punishable by up to 10 years in prison, according to a federal indictment.

…

In 2020 and 2021, Johnson allegedly bought the guns from licensed firearm dealers in Oak Forest, Mokena, Hodgkins and Lansing, the indictment states.

The indictment failed to mention who he bought the guns for or whether they were used in any crimes, either in Chicago or elsewhere.

But I still find this absolutely fascinating.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has made a big deal out of guns coming from Indiana, but it seems that it’s not all that hard to commit a straw buy for a couple of dozen firearms right there in Illinois. Thefts aren’t overly difficult, either.

So I’m sorry if I don’t feel like Indiana should trip over themselves to emulate Illinois when Illinois laws aren’t that difficult to break in the first place.

Of course, we don’t actually know where the guns ended up. It could have been a case of him buying guns for a buddy who was convicted of mail fraud, but he doesn’t think that’s a crime that should get one prohibited from owning guns. Maybe he was making a political stand by committing these straw buys.

God knows, while I don’t know that I’d approve, I’m pretty sure I’d understand where he’s coming from on that.

But it’s more likely he did buy them for a felon simply as either a favor or for money.

Meanwhile, though, we can clearly see that the FOID requirement doesn’t stop someone from making a straw buy. It doesn’t really do anything except make it more difficult for good, decent, law-abiding people to exercise their right to keep and bear arms.

It’s well past time to repeal such draconian nonsense there. It doesn’t actually do what it’s advertised to do and is a gross violation of the constitutional rights of the residents of Illinois.

Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen. Illinois lawmakers are disproportionately from that anti-Second Amendment bastion called Chicago. They’ve brainwashed themselves into thinking any and all gun control is a good thing and that there’s nothing wrong in the world that more of it can’t fix.

In the meantime, their city is still a violent hellscape while the rest of the state never was. Funny how it always shakes out like that, ain’t it?

https://bearingarms.com/tomknighton/2022/02/05/chicago-straw-buys-n55154