Illinois may call itself The Land of Lincoln, but old Abe would be turning over in his grave if he saw this story.
An Illinois law that says you must show valid photo ID to purchase a gun is causing problems for the Amish because their religion prohibits them from having their photos taken.
NBC Chicago has the details:
Up till now, the state had allowed them to obtain an FOID card without a photo, as is required of every other gun owner. But last month, the state police director reversed that policy, and said photos would be required of every gun owner, Amish or not.
The sheriff of Douglas County, considered to be the heart of Illinois’ Amish country, said many of them are rifle hunters to bring home food. If the new policy is enforced, many Amish would find themselves facing a tough choice – lose that source of food and protection, or violate their religious teachings.
The issue is complicated even further by the state attorney general recently ruling that FOID information can be made public. The Amish lead sequestered lives and strive to keep society at large out of their affairs. The possibility of making their photos public would make the whole prospect doubly offensive.
Irony alert: The same Democrats who believe the Amish should be forced to violate their religion in order to purchase guns feel just as strongly that photo IDs shouldn’t be required in order to vote. They voted down a law proposed by Republicans in 2008 that would have made voter photo IDs necessary.
An attempt to require Illinois voters to show identification before casting a ballot was rejected Thursday by Democratic lawmakers.
The proposal would have required an official ID in order to get a ballot. Those who didn’t comply could cast provisional votes that would be counted so long as the voter could produce an ID within 10 days.
State Rep. David Reis, a downstate Willow Hill Republican, modeled the Illinois proposal after an Indiana law recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. Supporters said in a day and age in which ID is required with so many daily activities, it’s not out of line to add voting to the list.
“We have to prove who we are to get in this building,” state Rep. Tim Schmitz, a Batavia Republican, said of working in the Capitol. “At some point we have to take responsibility for who we are.”
Unfortunately, Rep. Schmitz, with Democrats in power that point is when you want a gun, not when you want to vote.
Source: NBC Chicago, DemocraticUnderground.com
