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Some law enforcement officials in Cook County, Ill. – home of Chicago, America’s reigning murder capital – believe dangerous and mentally unstable people may soon acquire legal permission to carry guns in public.

Illinois is the last of the 50 states to extend concealed carry rights to gun owners and on Sunday residents can begin applying for permits online.

After an application is submitted, local law enforcement agencies have 30 days to flag it for further review by the seven-member Concealed Carry Licensing Review Board. Permit decisions must be made within 90 days.

Ahead of the influx of applications, leaders of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office says they are powerless to thoroughly vet applicants and flag individuals who may be dangerous.

The Illinois law allowing concealed carry has several safeguards. Applicants must certify they were not convicted of a felony or of certain misdemeanors in the past five years, such as threatening violence or driving more than twice under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Additionally, Illinois State Police must automatically flag applicants arrested five times in the past seven years, or three times for gang-related offenses.

Applicants must also surrender access to their mental health records, possess a valid Firearm Owner Identification (FOID) card – required for gun ownership in Illinois – and complete firearms training.

Despite those requirements, Cara Smith, executive director of jails and former policy chief at the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, says the 7,000-member force cannot effectively screen the applicant pool, largely because Illinois State Police denied them authorization to use the state’s LEADS database.

LEADS, Smith explains, is the “mothership of criminal history information” in Illinois.

Local law enforcement can flag any applicant for further review, even if they have not received a disqualifying conviction. Smith and her boss, Sheriff Tom Dart, believe doing so may weed out dangerous needles in the haystack of applicants.

Smith says her office is particularly interested in objecting to applicants who faced domestic violence, gun or gang-related charges that did not yield disqualifying convictions.

Illinois State Police rebuffed a request from the Cook County Sheriff’s Office to automatically flag individuals meeting this criteria.

Monique Bond, a spokeswoman for the Illinois State Police, says the request was denied because those categories weren’t specified in the law.

“The statute does not provide nor will the [Illinois State Police] have a mechanism for entering ‘blanket objections,’” Bond says. “Therefore, they will need to file such objections individually through the law enforcement objection process.”

Smith also says her department’s lack of access of mental health concerns reported to state agencies may also allow a few loose cannons to slip through, despite the mental health waiver applicants agree to.

The licensing review board, which reviews flagged applications, is charged with denying permits for applicants it deems a threat to themselves or public safety.

Illinois Carry spokeswoman Valinda Rowe brushes off the concerns of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office as alarmist hogwash that is “entirely without basis.”

Rowe points to the law’s safeguards, including the requirement in Illinois that gun owners have a valid FOID card. If a cardholder is charged with domestic violence, she says, that card is revoked until charges are resolved.

Rowe says the sheriff’s office would like access to the LEADS database to conduct fishing expeditions that would enable them to object to as many applicants as possible.

“The Cook County Sheriff’s Office wants to object to everyone and anyone they can because they oppose concealed carry,” Rowe says. “They are trying to undermine the law that was passed.”

Rowe says she opposes disqualifying citizens charged – but not convicted – of crimes.

“That’s just ridiculous,” she says. “If they are determined to be not guilty, why would you object to someone following their constitutional rights?”

The Illinois law specifies that permits be awarded on a “shall issue” basis – meaning anyone who qualifies must be given a license – as opposed to laws in some states that feature the more discretionary “may issue” standard.

“They want this to be ‘may issue’ and that’s not what the law is,” Rowe says. “Tom Dart is the only sheriff I know who is speaking out in opposition [to the law].”

Smith, however, says the law’s added level of bureaucracy distinguishes it from other “shall issue” states.

The Illinois law was approved by the state legislature July 9. Legislators voted decisively to overturn Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn’s veto. In a December 2012 ruling the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit decreed the state must pass legislation allowing concealed carry.

In lieu of access to the LEADS database, Smith says the Cook County Sheriff’s Office is engaging in a less-thorough and more time-consuming work-around.

Staff typically assigned to jails, policing and intelligence-gathering are being enlisted to help search the records they do have access to – including protective order listings, jail records and a database used by Chicago police.

Around 400 applications for gun training instructors were submitted in December, Smith says, and her department found some applicants faced charges they found concerning.

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WINCHESTER — Two children were taken into the custody of Department of Child Services officials late Monday after an active methamphetamine lab was reportedly discovered in the basement of a Winchester home.

Arrested were:

• Shannon L. Mackey, 32, and Carolyn R. Mackey, 28, both of 421 N. Residence St., Winchester.

• Brett A. Buck, 33, 578 W. U.S. 36, Lynn.

• Megan A. Eicher, 28, 7782 S. Jay County Road 600-W, Portland.

• Michael A. Malinowski, 49.

According to a media release from the Union City Police Department, officers on Monday afternoon responded to a report of a suspected shoplifter at Didier Hardware, 1355 Landsdowne Drive, when they made contact with the Mackeys, who were with their 4-year-old daughter. In their possession were several items commonly used in the manufacture and use of meth, including lye drain cleaner, tubing and hypodermic needles.

A search warrant was performed on the Mackeys’ Winchester residence late Monday, where officers reportedly found an active meth lab in the basement and several other meth precursors. Prior to serving the search warrant, the Department of Child Services also took custody of the Mackeys’ daughter and 9-year-old son, according to the report.

“Anytime an investigation leads to shutting down a meth lab, we consider it a success,” Union City police Detective Chad Puterbaugh said. “Removing children from such a dangerous environment is even more important.”

The Mackeys are preliminarily charged with conspiracy to manufacture meth, possession of a syringe, possession of meth precursors, maintaining a common nuisance and two counts of neglect of a dependent.

Carolyn Mackey has additional charges that include possession of a controlled substance and theft.

Buck and Eicher each face preliminary charges of conspiracy to manufacture meth, possession of a syringe, possession of meth precursors and maintaining a common nuisance, while Malinowski is preliminarily charged with maintaining a common nuisance.

Monday’s incident represented the second meth lab discovered in Randolph County so far this year. Just three meth labs were investigated in Randolph County in 2013.

According to court records, Shannon Mackey, formerly of Union City, Ohio, has convictions that include resisting law enforcement, check deception, theft, maintaining a common nuisance, possession of marijuana, driving while suspended and driving without a license. Carolyn Mackey, meanwhile, has no recent convictions.

Buck — formerly of Portland, Ridgeville and Union City, Ind. — has been convicted of dealing in a schedule II controlled substance, driving while intoxicated and check deception. Eicher, a a former Winchester resident, has convictions that include criminal conversion and driving while suspended.

Since 1982, Malinowski has been imprisoned for convictions that include burglary and rape. He was also convicted of indecent exposure in Allen County in 2008, according to records.

The Union City and Winchester police departments, the Indiana State Police Meth Suppression Unit and the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department each assisted with the investigation Monday evening.

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Three Park Ridge police officers received special recognition this month for their efforts in saving men who tried to end their lives.

Officers Carlos Panizo and Kristen Abbinante were presented with the Park Ridge Police Department’s Award of Valor, while Officer Mark Vallejo was given the Life Saving Award during a Feb. 3 City Council meeting.

Panizo and Abbinante’s award — the highest given out by the department — was based on a dramatic rescue that occurred in late October on the railroad tracks near the Uptown train station. A 42-year-old man, reportedly telling passersby that he wanted to “end it all,” was sitting on the railroad tracks and claimed to have a gun in his coat.

“He told the officers he had a gun, that he was going to shoot and that he wanted them to shoot him,” said Police Chief Frank Kaminski.

The officers held the man at gunpoint as they tried to talk to him and call for all trains to be stopped, but almost immediately they were faced with another danger: an approaching express train.

As the man laid down on the tracks, Panizo was able to determine he did not have a gun in his hand and, rushing onto the tracks closely followed by Abbinante, Panizo grabbed the man by his shoulders and dragged him to a platform — just as the express train roared by. Panizo and Abbinante searched the man — finding no weapons — handcuffed him and called an ambulance.

“Both of these officers put their lives in jeopardy, and for their heroic actions they are being awarded the department’s highest award,” Kaminski told elected officials and audience members gathered for the Feb. 3 recognition at City Hall.

Vallejo was presented with the department’s Life Saving Award for his actions while responding to a call of a man who had cut his wrists in a suicide attempt. With pieces of information that he had from a third-party 911 call, Vallejo arrived at the home referenced in the call, but no one came to the door, which was locked.

“He kicked down the door, he went in, went to the second-floor bathroom and found the subject in there with two knives, three puncture wounds and blood all over,” Kaminski said.

Vallejo immediately administered first aid to the man. When an ambulance arrived, the man was further treated by paramedics and taken to the hospital.

“If it hadn’t been for Officer Vallejo, an individual would have taken his life,” Kaminski said. ”He’s a very seasoned officer. His quick assessment of the situation and his judgement really helped save this person’s life.”

In addition to honoring the officers, Kaminski also acknowledged Park Ridge resident Emily Patel for her work in reporting two suspicious people to police, which led to burglary charges.

Kaminski said Patel called police in December after noticing two people outside a neighbor’s home. Police responded and a brief foot chase and search of the neighborhood occurred before two men were apprehended. The officers also determined the house where the men had been seen had been burglarized and some jewelry that was allegedly stolen had been dropped in the snow outside.

“She did the right thing — she called 911,” Kaminski said of Patel as she was presented with an Award of Appreciation.

Kaminski said the case is an example of a successful community partnership with police, an initiative he has focused on since he joined the police department as chief in 2009.

Others can take away an important message from what occurred as well, he said.

“Know your neighbors, watch out, and if you feel something’s not right, give us a call,” Kaminski said.

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Dr. Kevin Lowe, owner of Astramed, pocketed nearly $12 million in fees for writing prescriptions for fake patients, authorities say. He and more than a dozen suspects were arrested for pumping out the narcotic to long lines of buyers.

Robert Terdiman — one of the ring who was arraigned Wednesday — wrote 18,700 prescriptions just since 2012, authorities said.

This ruthless drug kingpin ruled with an iron hand — and a prescription pad.

A doctor who owned a pair of Bronx pain management clinics was busted with two dozen co-conspirators for running a mind-boggling $550 million oxycodone ring, authorities said Wednesday.

Dr. Kevin Lowe, 54, of upstate Kingston, personally pocketed $12 million between January 2011 and January 2014 before investigators shut down the violent, lucrative operation, according to court papers.

Two fatal shootings were among the “dozens of incidents of violence” committed as the drug ring spread its greedy tentacles across the city, authorities said.

The alleged mastermind and his corrupt medical cohorts are charged with scribbling 31,500 phony oxycodone prescriptions — or about 30 per day, every day, for three years.

The plot pumped an estimated 5.5 million pills onto the streets — enough to get every man, woman and child in the Bronx high three times over.

Chief among Lowe’s collaborators was Dr. Robert Terdiman, 68, who was busted Tuesday afternoon in one of the Bronx clinics.

Terdiman, who had stopped his medical practice in 2004, came out of retirement in June 2012 to write a stunning 18,700 prescriptions to 4,200 people worth $90 million, officials said.

The pills sell for up to $40 a pop.

“This is poison by prescription, and the volume and money allegedly involved would make hardened illegal drug traffickers envious,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said.

Lowe’s Astramed operated out of two Bronx offices that basically functioned as drug bazaars, with Lowe supervising in person or via surveillance camera.

“Part of the brilliance of (Lowe’s) scheme is that he managed largely to keep his hands clean by hiring other doctors,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Diskant said at Lowe’s arraignment Wednesday night in Manhattan Federal Court.

Prosecutors said Lowe was “complicit in much of the violence,” hiring muscular bouncers — including one enforcer known as “Pork Chop” — to keep the peace at his clinics and ensure the silence of all involved.

One clinic worker was tossed through a wall in September in retaliation for interfering with the criminal status quo, court documents charged.

“I don’t want to hear no nonsense out of you today,” suspect Donald Carr told one doctor outside a clinic on Dec. 20, 2013, according to court papers.

Up to 100 eager “patients” gathered each weekday morning outside the two offices, with each paying the doctors between $200 and $300 to get the prescriptions

“The individuals who received these oxycodone prescriptions were not legitimate patients and no physical examinations were conducted,” court papers said.

The paperwork was then passed on to “high-level drug traffickers,” who peddled the pills. Officials identified 10 separate drug crews getting the product from Astramed, including one based in Beacon.

The crews paid three clinic office managers cash to guarantee access to the doctors.

Lowe paid the physicians a flat-rate per prescription written, authorities charged.

Terdiman, who was living in a room at the Tuckahoe Motor Inn in Yonkers, was held without bail after his solo Wednesday arraignment in Manhattan Supreme Court, an appearance that preceded the federal court hearings for his co-defendants.

Authorities offered no explanation for Terdiman’s exclusion from the federal indictment, which identifies him as “Doctor-1.”

Lowe and 20 other defendants were arrested Tuesday. Three other suspects remained on the lam.

All of the defendants face a sentence of up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

The investigation into the twin pill mills began after Bronx residents complained to state Sen. Jeff Klein about the huge crowds gathered outside the clinics.

Lowe pleaded not guilty and a judge set bail at $5 million, which he was expected to secure with his Melville, L.I., home and medical headquarters in St. Albans, Queens. Once he makes bail, he’ll be confined to home detention and wear an electronic monitoring device.

Defense attorney Robert Dapelo blamed doctors Lowe worked with for the legal woes, saying, “These two offices (in the Bronx) were run by rogue doctors who were writing the prescriptions.”

“This is a travesty,” Dapelo said.

Seven other suspects were held without bail and 14 were granted bail from $100,000 to $200,000.

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SPRINGFIELD — Just more than a week into the process of licensing Illinois residents to carry concealed weapons, lawmakers already have attempted to tinker with the new law.

The (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald reported Monday reported Monday that legislators have introduced bills to increase penalties for carrying guns where they’re not allowed, including schools; punish instructors who don’t carry out training properly; and lower the legal age for carrying.

State Rep. Deborah Conroy, a Villa Park Democrat, said officials from the Elgin School District, the state’s second-largest, were amazed to learn the law had changed the penalty for carrying a gun in school from a felony the first time to a misdemeanor the first two times.

Conroy also wants to hike fines for people carrying guns in other places where they’re not allowed by the law, such as libraries, parks, and mass transit buses and trains.

Gun-rights advocates want to make the new measure less restrictive, pointing out that laws are only as good as the people who decide to follow them.

“You can limit it for the good guys, but for the bad guys, there’s no limit,” Pearson said. “We want to make this thing work. We want to make it right.

If we do, it could save a lot of lives, and save a lot of money.”

Rep. Ed Sullivan, a Mundelein Republican who helped write the concealed carry legislation, agrees. He wants to see how the new law works before changing it. Even he, however, is working on legislation to punish gun-safety instructors who falsify training records in the state with the strictest requirement — 16 hours of instruction. They would serve jail time and lose their carry licenses.

“We have found some instances where people paid for the training, but the instructor just signed off on it,” Sullivan said.

“Obviously, that’s fraud.”

Other proposed changes include lowering from 21 to 18 the age at which someone can apply for a license to 18, from 21.

And Democratic state Sen. Dan Kotowski of Park Ridge has introduced a measure to prohibit carrying guns in houses of worship and is planning stricter rules related to guns and mental health issues.

“A vast majority of my district was opposed to it (concealed carry),” Kotowski said. “Now … they are asking what I am doing to make sure people with mental illness aren’t getting access to these weapons.”

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BOSTON—The principal of two companies was sentenced yesterday for her role in a fraudulent scheme in which executives agreed to pay secret kickbacks to an investment fund representative.

Kelly Black-White, 52, of Mesa, Arizona, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper to one year and one day in prison, two years of supervised release, a $7,500 fine, and forfeiture of the illegal earnings. In September 2013, Black-White pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud.

Black-White, the principal of Premier Funding Inc. and Premier Services Inc., provides investor and public relations services to publicly traded companies. Black-White was sentenced for her role in a fraudulent scheme in which highly placed executives agreed to pay secret kickbacks to an investment fund representative who had offered to steer his investment fund to buy stock in their companies. Black-White’s role involved referring such executives to the investment fund representative so that those executives could enter into the kickback arrangement. In exchange, Black-White accepted a portion of the kickbacks paid by the executives. Unbeknownst to Black-White, the purported investment fund representative was actually an undercover federal agent.

Black-White’s conviction and sentence followed a year-long investigation focusing on preventing fraud in the microcap stock markets. Microcap companies are small, publicly traded companies whose stock often trades at pennies a share. Fraud in the microcap markets is of increasing concern to regulators as such markets have proven to be fertile grounds for fraud and abuse. This is, in part, because accurate information about microcap stocks may be difficult for the average investor to find, since many microcap companies do not file financial reports with the Securities Exchange Commission.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, which conducted a parallel civil investigation alongside the FBI undercover operation, cooperated with criminal authorities in bringing these charges, as well as charges against other defendants who participated in the kickback scheme. To date, 14 other individuals have been charged and convicted for their participation in the scheme.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Vincent B. Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Vassili Thomadakis, Eric P. Christofferson, and Sarah E. Walters of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.

This case was brought in coordination with President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch and, with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes. For more information about the task force visit:StopFraud.gov

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First month sees 8,722 online permit requests from Cook County, 36,630 from state.

In a review of the first month of concealed carry applications, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart objected to granting firearms permits to 240 people because of criminal histories that include domestic violence and gun crimes.

As of Wednesday, state police had received 36,630 applications, 8,722 of them from Cook County.

Of the Cook County applicants Dart objected to, five had already been denied by the state police. Of the remainder, 88 had records for domestic violence, 77 for gun crimes, 52 for battery/assault and 27 for aggravated battery/assault.

Twenty-nine had orders of protection filed against them. Some of the applicants had records in more than one category.

Dart also objected to applicants with records for gang activity, burglary, theft, sex crimes and drug crimes. Many applicants had more than one violation — one had been arrested 20 times, with two convictions, the sheriff’s office said.

Fourteen of the applicants Dart objected to are certified concealed carry trainers, the sheriff’s office said.

A new law allowing concealed guns to be carried in public was cobbled together after an appellate court struck down the state’s concealed carry ban in December 2012. An online system for applying for permits was launched last month.

State police also are working on a paper application process that they hope to have completed by July.

As part of the application process, county sheriffs, state’s attorneys, local police and the attorney general’s offices are allowed to review applications that have been initially approved by the Illinois State Police.

When objections are made, the Concealed Carry Licensing Review Board must review the applications and make the final decision.

Dart has been critical of the approval process, calling it “fraught with problems and holes.”

While the law requires state police to file an objection if an applicant has five or more arrests in the past seven years or three or more arrests on gang-related charges, Dart has vowed to be more stringent.

He has said he wants to bar permits to those arrested even once in the past seven years for domestic violence, gun possession or gang crimes.

According to the sheriff’s office, 118 of the applicants who Dart wants to deny live in Chicago and 97 reside in suburban Cook County.

Of those, 54 are from the south suburbs, 24 from the central suburbs and 19 from the northern suburbs.

An additional 25 people live outside Cook County but fall under the sheriff’s office’s jurisdiction because they lived in the county at some point in the past 10 years.

Nearly 360,000 Cook County residents are licensed to own a gun.

Dart has said he believes perhaps half of them will apply for a concealed carry permit.

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In response to mounting complaints about panhandlers, drug and gang activity and two recent shootings in Riverside parks, city officials may hire security guards – possibly armed – to patrol parks.

Officials say they don’t yet have details on the proposal, such as what it would cost, what times guards would be posted and which of the city’s 58 parks would be included. The City Council is expected to discuss and vote on the plan after receiving proposals from private security firms.

Residents have complained about homeless people camping in La Sierra Park, but the real problem is aggressive panhandling, drug deals and other crimes, said Councilman Steve Adams, who announced the plan at a community meeting Wednesday, Jan. 29.

“Everybody’s welcome in our parks,” Adams said Thursday. “Nobody’s welcome to conduct illegal activity in our parks.”

The city ultimately wants to hire more police officers, but that can take more than a year, said Adams, a retired cop.

Residents near La Sierra Park want to create a volunteer patrol, he said, but “right now the citizens didn’t feel safe doing that because we had the two shootings.”

A homeless man was found shot to death in the park in December. Also that month, a man fired at an officer trying to arrest him at Arlington Park. In response, Riverside Assistant police Chief Chris Vicino this month promised greater police presence.

PUBLIC RESPONSE

Early public response to the plan has been mixed.

Abel Lopez, who lives across from La Sierra Park, said he’s all for it, because he isn’t comfortable using the park now.

He’d like to see someone getting people out of the park at night, when it’s supposed to be closed.

An armed guard “is not going to be as positive as a police officer, but it’s still going to be positive,” Lopez said.

On Friday, some visitors to two city parks said they wouldn’t have a problem with the security guards.

Amparo Santizo, who was watching her niece play at Arlington Park, said in Spanish that she doesn’t always feel safe there.

“There’s not a lot of people (here) right now, but usually there’s a lot sleeping, (and) on drugs,” she said.

At Mount Rubidoux, Jay Ahmadi, who was finishing a run, said he sometimes sees graffiti there, and people drink and then leave behind broken glass bottles.

“It’s going to cost the taxpayers a little more (to hire guards), but better safe than sorry,” he said.

Other residents suggested installing cameras or spending more money on homeless programs. Others have questions about hiring guards.

“It’s a really enormous expense to take on and it’s something that we really need to have public discussion on,” said Scott Andrews, a member of the Riverside Neighborhood Partnership.

Gary Coffer said heavier police presence or volunteer patrols could work.

“(At) a park with kids playing, do you really want someone pulling out a handgun and shooting at somebody?” he said.

REALIGNMENT BLAMED

Councilman Mike Soubirous wondered whether unarmed guards would be effective, and if police would be able to respond if the private guards called them to make an arrest or deal with an incident.

Adams said the police department assigns cops to check on parks on their beat, but they often get called away to higher-priority calls.

Though not everyone agrees on whether the city should hire private guards, several blamed the need for more security on prison realignment, which shifted responsibility for lower-level offenders from the state to counties.

“You can’t let people out of jail early or not put them in jail at all and expect crime to go down,” Coffer said.

Assistant City Manager Belinda Graham said officials can answer questions once the city gets a response to its request for proposals, which is now being drafted.

For now, she said, “we just really want to make sure that people understand that our 58 parks at the city are safe and they can take their families there and enjoy it.

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Residents in Orland Park, Orland Hills and Homer Glen applied in January for concealed carry permits at rates higher than most of their neighbors in Cook and Will counties, according to data obtained from the Illinois State Police.

As of the last week of January, 7,843 Cook County residents had applied for permission to carry a concealed weapon, as allowed under the state law that took effect this year. That’s a rate of about 15 people per 10,000. Orland Park, by contrast, had about 40 people per 10,000 apply for a permit, and Orland Hills had 32 applications per 10,000 residents, state police data showed.

Interest by residents in Homer Glen was even higher, with 51 concealed carry applications per 10,000 residents. The rate in Will County is about 35 per 10,000, or 2,431 applications overall.

Illinois is about one month into its new law that allows residents to carry concealed guns on a permit-only basis. Illinois was the only state that still banned concealed carry until a 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the state’s ban unconstitutional in December 2012.

The new law requires 16 hours of training before residents can apply for a permit.

Interest in Homer Glen may have been buoyed by local leaders.

Will County Board member Steve Balich, R-Homer Glen, said he wrote a resolution that urged Illinois lawmakers to create a concealed carry law before they were forced to do so. Illinois lawmakers passed the new law in July 2013.

The Will County resolution, which passed on a 15-6 vote in May, was a message to state lawmakers: “We in Will County want Second Amendment rights,” Balich said.

Balich has since helped put together two concealed carry classes to help residents who want to obtain a state permit. He said about 120 people signed up for those two safety classes.

“There are a lot of people that are waiting to see what’s gonna happen,” Balich said. “I think there’s a lot of groups” putting classes together.

Balich said he applied for his concealed carry license. “I didn’t get it yet, but I applied,” he said. He plans to put together a third class in Homer Glen in late February or early March.

County Board member Ragan Freitag, R-Wilmington, attended one of the classes Balich helped assemble. She said the course focused mostly on handling the weapons and safety, and not so much on when and where to appropriately use firearms.

“They’re not promoting to go out and be offensive with this license,” Freitag said, “but to be defensive.”

Freitag, an attorney who doesn’t own a gun but says she’s looking at picking up either a 38-special or a .357 if her application is approved, said she’s looking to bring residents from her district together for a safety class similar to Balich’s.

Colleen Daley, executive director of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, said the group conducted statewide polls in April and the results showed “across the board people are typically in our corner.” She said Illinois residents support the idea of measures such as universal background checks and that “the majority of people (polled) were opposed to concealed carry.”

Daley doesn’t describe the group as anti-guns, but she says she works to educate people about the potential danger and violence associated with firearms.

Four weeks after the state’s new law took effect, data showed residents had lower interest in obtaining permits in Chicago and the collar counties than in the more conservative southern counties of Illinois, which didn’t surprise Daley.

“Cook County isn’t a huge gun culture,” Daley said. “Individuals in northern Illinois have very different views than people in southern Illinois.”

Daley said her group is pushing legislators for a statewide database that would log details of every shooting.

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ATLANTA GA Feb 2 2014 — Georgia motorists soon could whip out a cellphone picture of their driver’s license when stopped by police instead of carrying the plastic version.

That could be a plus for people who prefer not to carry a billfold or purse that could be stolen or mar the silhouette of tight jeans. It also recognizes that cellphones soon will be used for purchases, as they already are in other countries, eliminating the need for a pocketful of cash and credit cards.

The Nathan Deal administration is backing Senate Bill 323 in response to public requests. It’s meant to be especially helpful during the wait for the Department of Driver Services to send by mail the traditional, wallet version of a license, according to Sen. Hunter Hill, R-Smyrna, the sponsor of the bill.

“They are one of our best customer-service state agencies,” said Hill, who used to serve on the department’s board of directors. “They are constantly operating every day and getting feedback from their public.”

Current law already permits use of paper receipts issued by the department. Hill’s bill adds to that an electronic image of the receipt or a cellphone containing a photo of the front and back of the actual license.

“The presentation of such image on an electronic telecommunications device shall not be deemed as consent to access any other information contained on such devise for any other purposes,” the bill states, meaning embarrassing selfies and snarky text messages would remain private.

While the point of the change was the convenience of drivers when awaiting a new, renewed or reinstated license, Hill acknowledges it would work any time.

“When 99 percent of the population is law-abiding citizens, we need to create laws … that allow for some flexibility for our customers,” he said.

The photos would still be subject to verification by police officers accessing the Georgia Crime Information Center’s database. Since that access is limited to law enforcement, Hill doesn’t see the cellphone pictures serving as identification for bars and restaurants scouting out underage alcohol customers or for voting.

“This is not a provision that would make sense for voting,” he said.

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