SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois State Police announced Thursday that they seized guns from more than 1,000 people with revoked Firearms Owner’s Identification cards in an effort to curb gun violence.
“As a result of 201 details, ISP conducted more than 1,700 compliance checks statewide just in that short time,” ISP Director Brendan Kelly said.
Kelly said in a press conference today that compliance checks are not about taking away guns.
After the shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York, ISP conducted multiple other blitzes around the state from June 16 through July 31 of this year.
They focused on those individuals who posed the greatest threat to themselves or others.
This includes being newly convicted of a felony or making specific serious threats that cause a public safety risk.
These checks are about ensuring individuals who have lost their firearm rights transfer their firearms to law enforcement or someone who is legally able to possess them, Kelly said.
In addition to law enforcement, family members, qualified medical professionals and school administrators can submit two forms.
A Clear and Present Danger report or a Firearm Restraining order can be filed whenever a person is presenting violent or threatening behavior.
A clear and present danger can be anything from homicidal, suicidal, and verbal.
“It’s often the people who interact with the person on a daily basis that notice threatening behavior. If you see something, say something,” Kelly said.
The FOID card process came under scrutiny following the July 4th parade shooting in Highland Park. The 19-year-old suspect was able to get a FOID card just months after a complaint was filed. According to the complaint, he said he wanted to "kill everyone," according to disturbing details spelled out in a local police report describing him as a "clear and present danger."
Kelly said because the 19-year-old suspect was not actively trying to buy a gun at the time, state police determined he was not a clear and present danger.
"How can someone say that a threat is eminent, like right now, the threat of that person having a FOID card or having firearms is eminent or impending if there's no FOID card, if there's no application, if there's no evidence of a desire to acquire firearms," Kelly asked rhetorically.
Kelly said he did not believe the Illinois State Police made any mistakes in authorizing the legal sale of the firearms used to carry out the July 4th massacre.
"I cannot point to something that our officer did wrong," Kelly said.
He later acknowledged the officer never followed up to investigate or interview the people who made the initial complaints to local police but instead made his determination based on the information written in the deleted report.
"We have no record that there was any kind of call made," Kelly said when asked if state police carried out any further investigation into the suspect.