Roll Call. Do you own a gun? Know the rules to keep you safe

Several years ago, Illinois made it much easier for you to own a gun if you met specific basic requirements.

I was against the proposed concealed carry legislation. I was still an active police chief in Riverside and served on a legislative committee for the Illinois chiefs of police. I took the position that we should not have concealed carry. At that time, we were the last state to consider this legislation. Wisconsin had just passed a concealed carry law, leaving Illinois the only state that had not addressed the issue. The state legislators voted to allow concealed carry with restrictions.

So I am going to tell you a little about gun ownership. I am no gun expert, and while I did carry a service weapon while I was a police officer and, at times, an off-duty weapon, anyone who knows me will tell you I am not an expert. I just complied with the standards that Illinois had for police officers carrying weapons both on and off duty.

There has been a lot of social media activity in the last year about what gun ownership is, what is legal and not legal in Illinois and what federal statutes affect your ability to own a gun legally in Illinois. I wanted to set the record straight for some issues surrounding lawful gun ownership. I do not consider whether you should own a weapon as a personal safety device. I accept that if you own a gun, you need to know how to use it, train with it, have proper storage and get properly licensed.

You must have a Firearms Owners Identification Card in order to possess a gun. Everyone needs to have a FOID card, including law enforcement officers. The FOID card allows you to buy ammunition and it will enable the state police to do a background investigation on you for gun ownership. A FOID card is a statewide identification card and does not apply to specific jurisdictions. Some issues can keep you from obtaining a FOID card, including certain criminal convictions, institutional stays in mental health facilities and domestic violence cases.

If you own a firearm in Illinois, you should seek out a range instructor and get firearms training from a professional instructor. This is widely available in Illinois, and many private ranges, gun clubs and private businesses are undoubtedly willing to train new gun owners for a cost.

These are my rules for firearm safety:

• Treat guns as if they are always loaded, no matter the situation. That includes treating it as if it is loaded and treating it as if it is loaded from someone who may have handed you a handgun. Do not trust them implicitly. Check the weapons to verify that they are loaded or unloaded.

• Always keep your firearm pointed in a safe direction. When I was doing firearms training while still a police officer, we would always refer to this as keeping your gun pointed down range at all times. Boy, the range instructor would inform you if you did not do this.

• Get all your proper licensing. First, apply and obtain your FOID card, and for those of you who will be concealed carry, apply for your concealed carry license in Illinois and meet all those requirements.

• Know where you can carry. In Illinois, businesses, entertainment venues and other public parks can restrict firearms, even concealed carry holders. The state designed specific signage for this and you probably have seen them on many doors and windows at area malls and stores. It is against the law to carry a weapon into a business or designated area with the no-weapon sign posted. This is a Class A misdemeanor and you can be arrested for violating this restriction and have your FOID card privileges revoked.

• If you legally carry a weapon while driving and the police stop you, notify the police officer that you are a concealed carry holder when he approaches the vehicle. Always let law enforcement know that you may have a weapon on your person or vehicle, are legally licensed and have all the proper identifications on you.

• Never brandish your weapon. Brandishing a weapon is an act that puts others, directly or indirectly, in fear that you may use or discharge your weapon.

• One of the most important considerations is proper storage. You should always store your weapon in one of the following manners: in a locked box; affix a trigger lock to the handgun; store your gun unloaded and the ammunition in a separate location; always keep out of reach of children, even if you are holding it in a locked box. Do not tell people where you store your weapons. You may find it funny that I would even mention this, but in my career, I took many gun theft reports where weapons were stolen from homes, garages and cars, and in one case, a gun was stolen from a purse at a restaurant. If your handgun is stolen, immediately report it to the police department. You should have the following information available: brand of the weapon, caliber, serial number and any paperwork associated with your original purchase. Police can enter your gun into a nationwide database, and if that weapon is recovered or used for another crime, police would be able to track it and hopefully solve crimes, but also recover your gun.

• And for those of you who keep a handgun readily available by your bedside or some other immediate location, think twice before you pull that handgun and want to display it or discharge it. If someone is breaking into your house, you should first dial 911 and report a burglary in progress, a home invasion. It would be best to get the police to respond to your residence before any other action occurs.

In closing, as stated at the beginning of my column, I did not support concealed carry in Illinois. Still, we now have lawful concealed carry and we as a state must move forward and deal with it under the provisions outlined by the Illinois legislators. If you are going to own a weapon, know the law, train and please store your gun in a locked safe.

• Tom Weitzel was chief of the Riverside Police Department. Follow him @chiefweitzel.