Report: Chicago police not reporting mentally ill gun owners

Chicago’s inspector general says police are failing on a requirement to tell the state when people are mentally unfit to carry a gun.

Inspector General Joe Ferguson said in a report released Wednesday that the state Firearm Owners Identification Card Act requires the Chicago Police Department to notify Illinois State Police within 24 hours of determining a person poses “a clear and present danger.” The ISP can revoke a permit to carry if the holder has been admitted to a mental health facility within five years.

The report says Chicago police reported only one of 37 incidents over 3 1/2 years when officers confiscated a gun from a person whom they had taken to a mental health facility.

Ferguson recommended Chicago police undergo more training on reporting requirements. Spokesman Anthony Guglielmi (goo-lee-EHL’-mee) says the department has adopted the recommendations.