Will County Gazette

Illinois Senate Deputy Minority Leader Sue Rezin (R-Morris) is enraged that a new administrative rule related to Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) cards might have prevented the Highland Park shooting if it was enacted sooner.

NBC Chicago reported the new rule aims to expand the use and broaden the definition of clear-and-present danger reports, stating “administrative rules have unnecessarily limited and complicated the ability of the Illinois State Police to consider Clear and Present Danger information over time.” Under the new rule, “physical or verbal behavior, such as violent, suicidal or assaultive threats, actions or other behavior" would meet the qualifications for a clear and present danger report.

“Today’s rule change makes it clear to everyone that the Pritzker Administration accepts the fact that it had the authority and ability to enforce and strengthen our state’s existing laws and rules, which the Governor himself promised to do over three years ago,” Rezin said in an Aug. 17 press release. “We all recognize the vital importance of keeping firearms out of the hands of dangerous individuals, and it is infuriating to learn that our state had the ability to prevent the Highland Park shooter from obtaining a FOID card if it wasn’t for the Administration tying its hands with its own rules. The fact of matter is it took a horrific act of senseless violence for the Governor’s Administration to acknowledge this reality and keep the promise he made to the people of Illinois.”

During a Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) meeting, Republican lawmakers questioned the Illinois State Police (ISP) over their assertion that they had no authority to deny a FOID card to the alleged Highland Park shooter, according to Capitol News Illinois.

The alleged shooter, Robert Crimo III, had applied for a FOID card to allow him to purchase firearms in 2019, just 3 months after an individual filed a clear-and-present danger report because Crimo had threatened to "kill everyone." Local law enforcement confiscated 16 knives, a dagger and a samurai blade from the residence, but returned them later that day, according to NBC Chicago.

Crimo was not arrested after that incident, and Capitol News Illinois reported that although the Highland Park police forwarded the report to ISP, ISP discarded it because Crimo did not have an FOID or a pending application at that time. ISP stated at the meeting that its hands were tied because of rules in place at the time. Several months after that incident, the suspect filed a FOID application, which was approved. He subsequently purchased 5 weapons legally over the next two years.

Several weeks after the July 4 shooting, ISP issued a new emergency rule stating that it will maintain clear-and-present danger reports, even if the subject of the report does not have a FOID or a pending application. During the JCAR meeting, the rule was allowed to stand.