Suburban police say it’s a frequent scenario: They’re called to respond to a tense situation at a house and don’t know if anyone inside is licensed to own a gun.
That information is held by the Illinois State Police, but the list of the state’s 1.6 million Firearm Owner Identification cardholders isn’t shared with local police.
Police often don’t have that clue to whether a gun might be in the house until the encounter is nearly over. Only after they’ve got a person’s name can they check it against the state’s list.
Some police officials say that’s a key shortcoming of the state law. They would prefer to have that information available ahead of traffic stops and calls to quell domestic disputes…Please click here to read Jake Griffin’s story in the Daily Herald.