Too many concealed carry applications in Illinois

The floodgates of freedom have been opened in Illinois, and Americans are proud to demand what was once denied.

CHICAGO — More than 1,000 requests for concealed carry gun permits are pouring in each day in the nation’s last state to allow the practice, sparking concerns among Illinois law enforcement officials that they might fall behind on weeding out applicants with a history of violence.

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Illinois State Police officials insist a full state review will assure that permits don’t land in the hands of those who shouldn’t have them. And with 90 days to do the job after the 30-day window closes for local law enforcement agencies to make their objections, the agency has far more time than its counterparts in some other states, including Pennsylvania, where law enforcement has 45 days to investigate, and Wisconsin, where the state has 21 days.

But local law enforcement officials say they were not given the resources for a task that was supposed to provide an extra safeguard: a 30-day window to ferret out applicants who might meet the state standards but have something in their backgrounds that could render their applications too risky to approve.

Unlike the State Police, which received millions of dollars to do the background checks, and unlike Wisconsin, where the state Justice Department also received additional funding, in Illinois, local law enforcement agencies were not given any more money.

In examining 2,000 of the first 5,000 applications, the department has flagged more than 120 that it will recommend Dart object to. The allows objections for what it calls a “reasonable suspicion” that the applicants are dangerous even if their backgrounds would not automatically result in denials of their applications.

Among those flagged by the Sheriff’s Department are a gang leader who has been arrested — though never convicted — a dozen times on aggravated battery with a dangerous weapon and other charges, and a man who was arrested but not convicted of domestic battery and endangering the life of a child.

Only in Chicago does innocent mean “probably guilty.” Here’s a question, how come a gang leader gets arrested several times and never gets convicted? Are the cops that useless at gathering evidence? Are the witnesses not coming forward? Or are they harassing an innocent man because he associates with dubious characters?

As for the man NOT CONVICTED of domestic battery, could it be there was no domestic battery but an angry wife or girlfriend making stuff up?

But let Mr. Dart worry about 120 “suspicious” people out of 5,000, that’s 2.4% of all applications. People that if they were real criminals would not bother to apply for a concealed carry license.

If you ask me, this “reasonable suspicious” is un-American, it’s the kind of BS you see in countries like China, Cuba, and North Korea. If you’re INNOCENT, if you don’t have a criminal record, then by God, you have a right to keep and bear arms just like you have a right to free speech, freedom of religion, fourth amendment, etc.

Your rights don’t end because some cop with a vendetta doesn’t like you.