Permit applications for the Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card that allows someone to buy a gun in Illinois have surged over 500 percent amid the social unrest and violence currently seen in Chicago and other Democrat-controlled cities.
The Chicago Tribune reports the demand for gun permits and guns is so great Illinois’ 72-hour waiting period, which includes background check, is actually lasting about “94 business hours.”
They explain the backup by noting the Illinois State Police firearms bureau is simply overwhelmed. From “June 1 to June 17, there were more than 42,000 applications for FOID cards, compared with about 7,000 during the same time last year.” That represents an increase of just over 500 percent.
To put things in perspective–the 42,089 permit applications submitted June 1 to June 17 is just slightly less than the “48,194 applications submitted in the months of December, January and February combined.”
Law-abiding citizens want guns for self-defense.
On June 24, 2020, Breitbart News reported gun and ammunition sales were surging nationwide amid the push to defund police.
CNN Business reported National Shooting Sports Foundation numbers showing the surge was marked by a high volume of handguns. In fact, “semi-automatic handguns outpaced shotguns by a two-to-one margin as the weapons of choice among first-time gun buyers.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.
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