Highland Park Shooting Suspect Possessed FOID Card, Allowing Him to Legally Buy Guns in Illinois

People check their belongings after a mass shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July pa
Nam Y. Huh/AP

The shooting suspect in the Highland Park July 4th parade attack possessed an Illinois Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card, enabling him to legally purchase guns in the state.

CBS News reports that the suspect has had a FOID card since 2020.

PBS noted that County Major Crimes Task Force’s Christopher Covelli said the shooting suspect legally purchased five guns over the course of a year. Covelli could not remember the specific dates but believed the purchases occurred in 2020 and 2021.

Covelli explained that the suspect bought “at least two rifles, some pistols, and possibly a shotgun.”

He indicated the firearm the suspect used was “similar to an AR-15,” but he did not provide the specific caliber of the rifle or any other specifics regarding the make.

Illinois State Police Master Sergeant Delilah Garcia was also at the press conference at which Covelli spoke, and she was asked how the suspect was able to get a FOID card despite police being contacted about the suspect in September 2019. The Guardian reports that police were contacted because the suspect allegedly threatened “to kill everyone” in his family’s home.

Garcia noted that Illinois State Police did a data search on the suspect, and he did not have a pending FOID card application at that time so there was no action taken.

She said, “The individual named in the report did not have a FOID card or anything to revoke or to review.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkinsa weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.

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