At GunDigest, we independently review products. However, we may earn a commission when you purchase through links on our site. Learn More
Chicago One Year Later: Handguns Still Difficult to Own
However, “In the year since the Supreme Court decision, the Chicago Police Department says it has received roughly 3,500 applications from Chicagoans who want to possess a handgun in their homes,” WLS Television reported.
“98 percent are approved.”
Yet, the Windy City is home to 100,000 people with the state’s firearm owner identification (FOID) card, the card necessary for an Illinois citizen to purchase a firearm. “There are 100,000 FOID owners in Chicago alone and there's only 3,500 people who've applied for the handgun permit,” said gun owner Colleen Lawson. “Does that strike you as a bit of a discrepancy?”
“Colleen Lawson is one of the plaintiffs in the historic Supreme Court decision overturning Chicago's handgun ban. She owns a gun, took the mandated training, and has her new Chicago firearm permit, all required by a new city code that Lawson and others contend is nothing more than a de facto handgun ban.”
“They came straight out and said in the meeting, ‘we want to make this as tough as possible,’ and they've done that,” said Lawson.
Among the hurdles to own a handgun here: “Chicagoans who want to own a handgun must go through a criminal background check, take a four-hour classroom course on firearms, and spend an hour on a shooting range. However, there are no shooting ranges in Chicago, because the city doesn't allow it.
Applications and fingerprints require a personal appearance. There is only one place where that can be done: a city office on S. Kedzie, open only on weekdays.”
Source: WLS Television
Recommended Handgun Resources
