DockRat
05-11-2015, 06:51 PM
Since the State of Illinois passed a controversial Concealed Carry Weapons permit law last year, a flood of African American applicants have found themselves denied even though they are qualified to receive the permits according to the prerequisites of the law. After hundreds of such residents took a firearms training course, paid an array of fees, and submitted fingerprints for a background check that were then ultimately passed, African American applicants have been receiving notices earlier this year that a special review board has denied their applications for concealed carry licenses.
One such example, Michael Thomas was puzzled that as a former Air Force reservist who routinely carried a gun during military service and has never had a run-in with the law, was turned down, even though the law does not afford police the discretion to deny permits to those who meet the prerequisites and who are not legally prohibited. But Thomas is just one of more than 800 people who have been denied licenses by the board. This board meets behind closed doors and keeps its records and reasoning secret.
So that’s what Thomas did. He joined 193 other Illinoisans – many of whom happen to be African Americans – in filing lawsuits against the state police. Interestingly, few Caucasians who applied for the permit in Illinois have found themselves denied, even when their records are a bit more tarnished (though without felonies), than Thomas’s squeaky-clean background.
Read more below. Let them carry guns and keep the riff raft in line. DR :Death2Above:
http://countercurrentnews.com/2014/07/lawsuits-filed-as-chicago-denies-black-people-concealed-carry-licenses/
One such example, Michael Thomas was puzzled that as a former Air Force reservist who routinely carried a gun during military service and has never had a run-in with the law, was turned down, even though the law does not afford police the discretion to deny permits to those who meet the prerequisites and who are not legally prohibited. But Thomas is just one of more than 800 people who have been denied licenses by the board. This board meets behind closed doors and keeps its records and reasoning secret.
So that’s what Thomas did. He joined 193 other Illinoisans – many of whom happen to be African Americans – in filing lawsuits against the state police. Interestingly, few Caucasians who applied for the permit in Illinois have found themselves denied, even when their records are a bit more tarnished (though without felonies), than Thomas’s squeaky-clean background.
Read more below. Let them carry guns and keep the riff raft in line. DR :Death2Above:
http://countercurrentnews.com/2014/07/lawsuits-filed-as-chicago-denies-black-people-concealed-carry-licenses/