We now know that the Highland Park Shooter was able to apply for and receive a gun permit in Illinois. Reports have noted numerous red flags in the personal history of the Highland Park shooter, noting that these brushes with law enforcement could have prevented him from acquiring a weapon. So, what happened? How was the shooter able to acquire a weapon and bypass the red flag laws designed to prevent people with violence and mental health issues in their...

In the wake of the Highland Park shooting, Illinois legislators are hoping to close the gap in the red flag laws that allowed the suspect to get a firearms permit despite previous signs of emotional instability and run-ins with the police in 2019. When the suspect filed an application for a FOID card three months after the police confiscated knives and a sword from his apartment, the government had no basis on which to deny the application because no criminal...

A recent longitudinal study (meaning it was conducted over several years) sought to determine the economic factors hurting single mothers. While it is often assumed that partner absence plays the most significant role in financially hurting single-parent families, the data revealed that many of the economic barriers found in motherhood would exist regardless of partner absence. Having a working partner helps absorb the costs related to having and caring for a new baby. While traditional studies have sought to discuss...

According to a recent study, the answer is yes. Couples who have children immediately after getting married tend to divorce more frequently than those who do not. According to the study, the timing of the birth of the first child had an impact on how long the marriage lasted. The study was conducted by the CDC and analyzed over 10,000 men and 12,000 women over a 10-year period. The study further found that couples who waited eight months or more...

With the summer in full swing, law enforcement is reminding drivers to drive safely and unimpaired. July and August bring more police DUI checkpoints and greater police vigilance when it comes to pulling over drivers. Police may suspect a driver of intoxication simply because more people are out and about, enjoying the beautiful weather and grabbing drinks with friends. This does not mean that every individual who is pulled over this summer has actually committed an offense. The following are...

In 2020, a caller reported that they heard a gunshot coming from inside a home. They called police who executed a search of the premises and found a rifle in the possession of an Illinois woman. The rifle was not fired. There was no evidence of a gun being fired from within the residence. As it turned out, the defendant’s estranged husband had filed a false report to engineer the confiscation of the weapon. The defendant denied firing the rifle...

State Supreme Court Declines to Rule FOID Act Unconstitutional

posted on 7/17/22

Several challenges have been made to Illinois’ Firearm Owners Identification Act (FOID) but the Illinois Supreme Court has refused to rule that Illinois’ variation of the FOID Act is unconstitutional....

In recent high-profile mass shootings in Buffalo, NY, Uvalde, TX, and Highland Park, IL, the shooter was able to bypass red flag laws and other restrictions on purchasing weapons that should have ostensibly prevented the shootings. Since these shooters were able to legally purchase the guns, lawmakers are scratching their heads as to what can be legally done next. Most of the reform-minded approaches include closing loopholes in existing laws, or allowing law enforcement to move more quickly on actionable...

The Cook County Sheriff’s department recently announced that they have confiscated over 80 guns while searching the homes of suspects who were on electronic monitoring. Electronic monitoring is generally used for individuals who are awaiting trial. Each of these individuals is required to sign a contract stipulating that they do not have any guns or drugs in their residence. Because the individuals are technically in custody, their homes can be searched as part of compliance checks without warning or recourse...

There are a handful of holidays that police target for DUI arrests. Can you guess what they are? One is obviously July 4th. The others are New Year's Eve, St. Patrick’s Day, and Cinco de Mayo. All three are associated with day drinking, celebrations, and a headache in the morning. They are also associated with an uptick in DUI charges in and around Chicago. The Fourth of July remains one of the deadliest days of the year for American drivers....

If you guessed that women file for divorce more often than men, then you are correct. Women file the majority of divorces here in the United States. Women initiate a staggering 70% of divorces. That number skyrockets to 90% when they are college-educated. In the UK, the figure is still high—but not as high: 62%. In the United States as in the UK, no-fault divorces are legal. One of the main connecting factors that predicts this trend is women’s liberation...

The divorce rate in India is quite low compared to the United States. That’s largely because it’s much more difficult to pursue a divorce in India. Couples are required to live separately for one year before they can finalize their divorce. One Indian man and his wife have agreed to separate after the wife cooked noodles every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The wife apparently lacked the ability to cook anything other than noodles. The husband, instead of learning...

A Chicago man has been sentenced to four years in federal prison for attempting to receive a parcel containing a vacuum-sealed substance. The substance turned out to be fentanyl, the highly-potent opioid drug at the heart of the opioid crisis -- a drug being vigorously prosecuted by Federal and State prosecutors. The defendant, who was originally from Chicago, received the package in Wisconsin where a joint task force took control of the parcel before it was delivered, analyzed the contents,...

The rules regarding automatic weapons are not simple, but most of these types of weapons are illegal to own and to use in Illinois. Even the mechanism that allows for automatic loading of the bullets is illegal. Exceptions are made for any gun that was manufactured before 1986 when the rules were drafted. These older guns have been grandfathered in, and you can own or sell them in some states, but not without a special permit, and not in Illinois...

A Chicago-area man was recently charged with possession of 900g of cocaine, nearly a kilo. The suspect has been charged with possessing a controlled substance, which is a Class-2 felony and possession with intent to deliver, a Class-X felony. A Class-X felony is the most serious felony you can be charged with short of first-degree murder. Mandatory minimum sentences depend on the weight of the drugs involved in the crime, but they run from six to 30 years behind bars....