Numbers from Illinois State Police show the agency granted far fewer concealed carry permits statewide in 2015 than in 2014.
About 55,500 permits were granted statewide during 2015. That's compared to about 95,500 in 2014, the first year of the program.
But while those numbers are down, the number of objections to applications that were made by law enforcement more than doubled. The Daily Herald reports that police departments, sheriff departments and state's attorneys raise objections to nearly 11,000 applications statewide in 2015, compared to almost 4,000 in 2014.
A law enforcement agency must have reasonable suspicion that there's a danger to the applicant or others in order to object to a concealed carry permit application.
Roughly 8,800 objections were raised last year in Cook County.
Fewer concealed-carry permits issued in 2015
