Illinois Still Being Jerks About Gun Carry Permits

The Chicago Tribune
reports on so much foot-dragging from the state of Illinois
regarding issuing gun-carry permits after the state Supreme Court
last
year overturned the state’s ban on such carrying that aggrieved
citizens are suing.

After telling of a military veteran, Michael Thomas, who has his
application for a concealed carry license denied for no apparent
reason:

The state police review every application and can automatically
deny any applicant who does not follow application rules, pay
appropriate fees or meet standard background
requirements. A provision in the law also
allows local police and other officials to object to a person’s
application after the applicant has passed a fingerprint background
check and met the other requirements for a license.

The Concealed Carry Licensing Review Board, a panel with law
enforcement backgrounds, considers the objections in private and is
not required to explain the reasons behind its decisions except
under order from a court, according to the state police’s
interpretation of the statute.

Officials won’t say why Thomas’ application was flagged for
denial, or by
whom. Thomas insists that he has a clean
record. A search of Cook County court records turned up no charges.
An Air Force spokesman told the Tribune that Thomas was honorably
discharged in 2012 and that his military record does not contain
any unfavorable information.

Thomas is now one of 194 resident suing over their mysterious
permit denials.

The lawsuits, including two backed by the National Rifle
Association, claim that applicants were denied due process because
they weren’t given a reason for the board’s decision and have no
recourse for challenging its findings. Lawyers involved in the
cases say the issue is not whether applicants are qualified for the
licenses, but whether the licensing process is too secretive and
arbitrary.

The review board’s meetings “are not subject to the Open
Meetings Act and its records are not subject to the Freedom of
Information Act.”

So far, the state police have received 79,207 applications and
issued 62,258 licenses, according to data provided by the
department. The state automatically denied more than
1,620 applicants for
failing to follow application rules or meet basic requirements.
There have also been more than 2,400 objections lodged by local law
enforcement officials and 809 applicants who were denied because
objections were sustained by the review board.

More than half of the objections — 1,461 — have come from
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart. An outspoken critic of the concealed
carry law, Dart came under fire earlier this year when he said he
would object to any applicant who has been arrested even once in
the past seven years for domestic violence, gun possession or gang
crimes.

Dart said he is confident that his office did not make mistakes
and that it only targeted people who records showed should not be
allowed to carry guns. Still, he said he expected litigation to
follow.

As widely reported, this weekend’s 82 shootings proves Chicago
(Cook County) has lots of problems with people misusing guns, the
type of people likely not much moved by whether or not they have a
legal carry permit.

The Supreme Court, alas,
continues to avoid the question of how Heller and
the newly meaningful Second Amendment impacts restrictions on
public carry. Someday they’ll have to think about it.