Illinois residents will soon be able to apply for permits to carry concealed weapons. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart has safety concerns about who will be allowed to get those permits.
Sheriff Dart sarcastically called Illinois state lawmakers brain surgeons and rocket scientists for the way they crafted the new concealed carry law.
A federal court mandated Illinois to create a law allowing concealed carry.
It was the last state in the country to enact one.
Dart says federal law doesn’t let him do a sufficient background check on any Cook County residents applying for the permit.
Among those he doesn’t want to conceal a weapon are those charged with domestic violence or gun crimes - or people who have been in a gang.
DART: So I’m going to be left with tens of thousands of people to object to on Day One. Does anybody on this planet think that’s responsible? Anybody? Anybody? Given what I have in front of me to deal with.
A lobbyist for the National Rifle Association says Dart is trying to reinvent the law.
He says the state police can adequately do background searches on applicants.
The State Police starts accepting applications January 5th.