The appetite for legal firearms is on the rise in Chicago, even as demand appears to wane nationally. Illinois State Police say the number of firearm owner identification applications in Chicago doubled from about 19,600 in 2014 to nearly 39,000 last year. It's on pace to surpass that this year.
FBI figures show federal background checks nationwide hit high levels at the end of 2016 and dropped 11% during the first four months of 2017, compared to the same period last year.
Courts struck down Chicago's ban on handguns in 2010 and lifted the ban on gun shops in the city in 2014. Nonetheless, there are still no registered gun stores in Chicago.
