Illinois Auditor: FOID Card Flawed
By: Mark Stevens
Updated: April 5, 2012
The State's method of keeping guns out of the wrong people's hands is not as strong as we thought.
Illinois Auditor General William Holland says the FOID card program is limited in protecting and promoting public safety.
The biggest issue the State Auditor found is that the State Police aren't getting mental health orders.
Those records are supposed to be sent from each county's circuit court clerk.
And without that information the State Police can't revoke or deny a FOID card.
Or pass that information along to the feds.
"This is something that's news to me and as you can see out only three of the 102 are sending in the orders around the State shows the clerk's don't know the information."
Winnebago County Circuit Clerk Tom Klein says he hasn't been sending in mental health orders to the State Police. And he's not alone. 98 other counties in Illinois don't either. Klein says he needs a judge's permission first.
"The circuit judge ordering the clerk to send that type of information to the State Police on an order, so until that happens we would never do that."
The Auditor's report says without that information, both the F.B.I. and Illinois are acting blind. Because a person ruled to be mentally challenged is supposed to be disqualified from legally owning a gun.
"This report highlights a major issue that we need to work on and I think we can do that this spring."
State Representative Dave Winters says the General Assembly needs to clean up the legal language that's causing the confusion. The State Police tells the Auditor a bill doing that has already been introduced. And Winters says lawmakers should also consider getting rid of the FOID card.
"If the programs aren't effective, dump the program, and put the resources they're allocated to focus on getting mental health reports."
Which is just fine with KAP Guns owner Kenny Polhamus. He says the FOID card is redundant, since gun buyers have to pass a federal background check.
"The people with problems just like the criminals, they're not going to purchase a FOID, they're going to get a gun by other means."
Now the state auditor did not go so far to say that people who shouldn't have a FOID card are walking around.
But the Auditor warns that the counties with clerks who aren't reporting, do face the risk of having somebody fall through the cracks.
