Concealed carry permits should not go to people with questionable backgrounds. In Cook County, that happens often.

One of the safeguards in Illinois’ 2013 law allowing gun carrying was that local sheriffs could object if they saw someone they considered a risk applying for a permit to carry a gun.

But that protection has proven to be too porous. The General Assembly must tighten it.

The seven-member Concealed Carry Licensing Review Board decides whether to grant or deny a sheriff’s objection to an application for a concealed weapon. The review board can deny an application for a concealed weapon if a preponderance of the evidence shows that the applicant poses a danger to himself or the public. In all cases, the review board is also required to send a letter to a sheriff stating how it resolved an objection, but that doesn’t always happen.

Here’s the shocking number: In suburban Cook County — in cases where the review board sent a letter — 85% of applicants have received concealed carry permits since 2020, even though Sheriff Tom Dart’s office filed objections. Yes, 85%.

Such a high number of rejected objections naturally raises many questions.

As for the letters, the non-response rate at Darts office was 26% in 2023, and it has been rising in recent years. In 2018 it was only 3%.

Got a permit, then arrested and jailed

Dart filed objections on cases ranging from domestic violence or reasons related to protective orders to charges of aggravated assault and battery, according to records released through a Freedom of Information Act request obtained by the Sun-Times. Other categories for which Dart filed objections included arrests for drugs, theft, robbery, unlawful use of a weapon, gangs, sex crimes, murder, false impersonation, stalking and menacing.

Clearly, these objections demonstrate that many applicants do not have the good record expected to obtain a concealed carry permit.

On average, the Cook County sheriff’s office filed about 1,400 appeals each year between 2014 and 2023. (That’s just for the Cook County suburbs, not Chicago.) But for perspective, from Jan. 1 to Sept. 1, the review board reported 487 denials of applications statewide.

Records show that between 2017 and 2023, there were 60 cases in which an applicant for a concealed carry permit was booked into Cook County Jail within 180 days of Dart appealing a domestic violence charge or violating a protective order. While someone booked into jail may not have been convicted, that’s hardly evidence that person is likely to handle firearms responsibly.

Concealed gun ownership is a serious problem. According to data from the Violence Policy Center, people carrying concealed weapons have killed 2,512 people nationwide. People carrying concealed weapons have been responsible for 37 mass shootings, the center’s data shows.

Listen to sheriffs’ concerns

The issue is all the more important now that Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is leading a group of 19 attorneys general in a fight to preserve a Minnesota law that prohibits people under 21 from carrying concealed handguns in public. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently invalidated the law, and the attorneys general are asking the court to reconsider. Illinois requires holders of a concealed-carry permit to have a Firearm Owner’s Identification card and be at least 21 years old, but if the courts were to remove the age requirement, more people would be eligible for permits.

Additionally, sheriffs across the state would have new gun safety responsibilities if a bill nicknamed Karina’s Law passes. The bill, which proponents hope to pass in the veto or lame-duck session, would allow law enforcement officers with a warrant to temporarily seize firearms from people under domestic violence. If the state is going to pressure law enforcement to remove guns from homes, it seems inconsistent not to listen to sheriffs when they raise concerns about who is licensed to carry concealed weapons.

It’s not easy for sheriffs to review all the applications for concealed-weapon permits, since the 2013 law didn’t include money for background checks. As of Friday, there were 511,087 active concealed-weapon permits in Illinois, according to state police.

Gun violence is a multifaceted problem, and no single step will make every street and community instantly safe. But the path to saving lives and reducing injuries is to continue to find ways to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them.

It’s unlikely that concealed carry will go away in Illinois anytime soon, since it’s essentially a federal court-ordered law. But the least the system can do to protect the public is ensure that those who have the permits aren’t likely to engage in criminal or other behavior that endangers themselves or others.

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