Audit: Unstable People Could End Up Getting FOID Cards In Illinois
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CBS) -- An audit has been conducted on the rules governing Illinois Firearm Owner's Identification Cards, and officials say the results raise troubling questions.
As WBBM Newsradio's Bob Conway reports, the audit found that in 99 of the state's 102 counties, court clerks have routinely failed to notify Illinois State Police about people found to be seriously mentally ill, which would make them ineligible for the card allowing the purchase of guns and ammunition.
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Those people are supposed to be placed on an ineligibility list or have their card revoked.
But the Chicago Tribune says the report indicates that frequently, judges don't direct the clerks to contact State Police, so those who should not have FOID card are able to obtain or keep them.
In addition, only about one third of FOID revocations that were ordered were actually completed, the Tribune reported.
The audit also turned up communication problems between state police and the FBI national database, the Tribune reported.
The FOID card has been required to own a firearm in Illinois since 1968, and more than 1.3 million Illinois residents have one, the Tribune reported.
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