Gun owner ID cards soar in Chicago
BY FRANK MAIN Staff Reporter/fmain@suntimes.com January 25, 2012 7:18PM
File photo. | John H. White~Chicago Sun-Times.
Updated: February 27, 2012 9:57AM
Chicago has seen a 16 percent spike in the number of people holding state firearm owner’s identification cards in the past two years, state officials said Wednesday.
About 122,000 people possessed FOID cards at the beginning of this year compared to 105,000 at the beginning of 2010, said Monique Bond, spokeswoman for the Illinois State Police.
Illinois residents must possess a FOID card to buy guns in the state.
Illinois State Police officials check an applicant’s identification and background before issuing a card.
The uptick in FOID cards follows the City Council’s approval of a July 2010 ordinance lifting a 28-year-old ban on handguns in Chicago.
The ordinance requires gun owners to obtain a city gun permit, register their firearms with the Chicago Police Department and keep their guns in their homes.
The Chicago Police Department said about 15,300 guns are registered to about 4,100 Chicagoans, and 60 permit applications are pending.
Todd Vandermyde, a legislative liaison for the National Rifle Association, said he believes Chicagoans are getting FOID cards to comply with state law but are snubbing their noses at the city ordinance because they believe the registration process is too onerous.
“They’re taking their chances with the city,” he said. “It’s just an ordinance violation.”
Officials said the statewide number of FOID card holders and applications for cards has also risen in recent years.
As of Jan. 1, 2011, there were nearly 1.4 million FOID card holders statewide, compared to more than 1.3 million a year earlier, Bond said. That’s an increase of more than 6 percent.
There were 321,000 applications for FOID cards statewide in 2011, compared about 287,500 in 2010, she added.
Vandermyde cited several reasons for the statewide rise: he thinks more women are getting guns; more people are hoping the state will pass a concealed-carry law; and more people believe the Obama administration will make it harder to get weapons in the future.
