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“But, the primary source state of illegal firearms recovered in
Chicago is Illinois, so 40% of those firearms are coming from
Illinois,” Smith said during a panel discussion on the topic
hosted by The City Club of Chicago.
Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly said proving straw
purchases is a challenge. Kelly said the laws are there, but
establishing evidence can be tricky.
“There’s a reason why you don’t see a lot of these straw
purchaser charges, because you really at times have to have
almost a straight-up confession. Yeah, I bought it for my
cousin. I bought it for my boyfriend. I bought it for my son,”
Kelly said.
Kelly said firearms certification and dealer inspections have
been helpful in stemming the flow of unlawful weapons. He said
the number of Illinois gun dealers with federal firearms
licenses dropped dramatically in recent years.
The Firearm License Dealer Certification program was signed into
law in 2019. The measure requires all federal firearm dealers
operating in the state to be certified by the Illinois State
Police.
Since then, Kelly said Illinois has gone from more than than
2,000 dealers with Federal Firearms Licenses to under 1,000
authorized dealers.
“The inspection regime that we do of those gun dealers that are
still here, again there’s very few violations we’re finding
because they are abiding by that,” Kelly said.
Kelly added that inspections have helped members of law
enforcement build relationship with dealers.
“Some gun dealers are saying, ‘Hey, I’m abiding by these rules,
but ABC dealer down the street, I’ve heard they maybe have some
problems,” Kelly said.
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