Illinois State Senator Julie Morrison filed a measure today requiring a FOID card holder sign an affidavit if weapons are transferred to them.
CHICAGO (CBS) – Tuesday a judge revoked Travis Reinking’s $2 million bond. Reinking is under 72 hours of medical evaluation and is being charged with killing four people at a waffle house outside Nashville with guns he never should have had in his custody.
His guns were seized in Illinois last year, but returned to his father, who police say gave the weapons back to his son.
Illinois lawmakers are trying to make sure that an incident like that never happens again.
In a May 2016 incident report, Travis Reinking was described the Morton Illinois man as “delusional,” “suicidal,” and “in protective custody” by police who ten told Reinking “he did not have a choice and was going for an evaluation.”
According to Illinois law, the hospital would have been required to report Reinking’s name to the Department of Human Services if he was admitted for mental health issues. Attorney Joe Monahan explains what typically happens next if weapons are involved.
“The department of human services then send that back to police and typically the state police would reject the firearm identification owner request,” explains Monahan.
Citing the ongoing FBI investigation, Illinois State Police wouldn’t comment on Reinking’s FOID card status and if the card could have been revoked after the 2016 report instead of 15 months later after an incident outside the White House. Citing privacy laws, the Department of Human Services could not comment on whether if Reinking was ever in their database.
Reporters asked law enforcement in Nashvile if anything had slipped through the cracks.
“The criminal justice system is often, in every case, has had some contact with individuals that we may, could’ve done something about it earlier,” said the sheriff.
Illinois State Senator Julie Morrison filed a measure today requiring a FOID card holder sign an affidavit if weapons are transferred to them. Representative Katherine Willis’s bill mandates that and more.
“Law enforcement are the only ones that can hold onto the guns under my bill,” says Willis. “Right now, when you lose your FOID card, you can automatically transfer it to any other FOID card owner. This has it very strict, it cannot be someone who is in the same household you are at and the gun owner can petition the court to transfer to somebody else.”
The amendment in Willis’s bill would only apply when there are orders of protection that trigger the confiscation of guns. Willis says she is open to expanding the bill.
