CHICAGO – Illinois state Rep. Daniel Didech has proposed a law that would require police to screen the social media accounts of potential gun buyers.
If passed, this bill would allow police to disqualify an individual from purchasing a gun and even revoke a currently valid Firearm Owner’s Identification Card if any information on the social media accounts was found alarming.
Didech filed this bill last month. Since then, Rep. Jonathan Carroll and Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia have been added as co-sponsors.
This bill is not the first of its kind. A similar bill that was introduced in 2018 in New York goes a step further and requires the potential buyers to provide social media account passwords, as well as browser histories. Didech’s bill would only entail the buyer providing the handles of their accounts.
The bill was assigned to the House Judiciary-Criminal Committee last week and will be discussed at a hearing on Wednesday at 2 p.m. in Springfield, Illinois.