Plan ensures mentally ill do not have access to firearms

SPRINGFIELD – A proposal by State Senator Julie Morrison (D – Deerfield) to ensure individuals with mental illness do not have access to firearms passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee today.

“Unfortunately, we have seen what can happen when firearms get in the wrong hands,” Morrison said. “While Illinois is fortunate to have a strong mental health reporting system already in place, we must ensure information for every county is being reported.”

Currently, circuit court clerks are required to relay information to the Illinois State Police when a person passes through the court system and is deemed to have a mental disability or is involuntarily committed to a mental institution. The information is used to ensure FOID cards, which are required to legally own a firearm in Illinois, are not administered.

Morrison’s proposal, contained in Senate Bill 2213, would ensure the state police are receiving information from every Illinois county by requiring circuit court clerks to report bi-annually if no person has been adjudicated as a person with a mental disability or if no person has been involuntarily admitted.

Senate Bill 2213 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee without opposition today and heads to the Senate floor for further debate.