Sheriff Enacts New Protocol For Revoked FOIDs After Mass Shooting

AURORA, IL — Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain is taking steps to keep better track of area residents who have revoked Firearm Owner Identification cards. A database meant to identify those with revoked FOID cards in unincorporated areas of the county comes on the heels of Friday's shooting at the Henry Pratt building in Aurora, and Hain hopes the new measures will be in place by March 1. The gunman, Gary Martin, 45, shot and killed five people and wounded five officers inside the Aurora plant with a firearm that should have been surrendered in 2014, authorities said.

Martin had a 1995 felony conviction in Mississippi that did not show up during a criminal background check when he applied for a FOID on Jan. 17, 2014, according to authorities. State officials said a FOID background check does not "allow a FOID card applicant to submit fingerprints as part of the application process."

According to Illinois State Police, a FOID background check consists of a "name and date of birth check." State police added that Martin answered "no" on the application when asked if he had ever been convicted of a felony.

Police say Martin cleared a background check that was conducted when he applied to purchase a .40-caliber Smith and Wesson handgun, the gun used in Friday's shooting, on March 6, 2014. That same month, he applied for a concealed carry permit, which was denied after he had to submit fingerprints and authorities learned of the felony conviction in Mississippi.

Martin's FOID card was officially revoked on April 17, 2014, according to Illinois State Police. Authorities said that procedure at the time would have involved them notifying the Aurora Police Department of the Illinois Law Enforcement Agencies Data System (LEADS). Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman said Saturday that Martin would have received a letter directing him to relinquish his gun to local police.

RELATED: State Police Investigate Why Aurora Shooter Still Had Gun

Failure to comply with requirements that follow a FOID card being revoked can result in local police issuing a search warrant of the offender's home in an effort to find the card and any firearms. According to Illinois State Police, though, a local law enforcement agency is not required to do so.

Hain says his office's steps to create a database meant to track cases involving revoked FOID cards in real time would not have prevented Friday's shooting since the gunman lived in the city of Aurora, which is outside the sheriff's office's jurisdiction. Regardless, he says the protocol is meant to hopefully prevent similar situations from happening in the future.

"You want to protect everybody. You want to shield everybody from danger," he told the Daily Herald.

After the sheriff's office identifies those within the county with revoked FOID cards, they would send a letter to the resident, which would give them 45 days to hand over the FOID card. From there, a deputy would stop by the person's house. It is not a crime to posses a revoked FOID card, but those with a revoked card who are in possession of ammunition or guns face a misdemeanor charge. A search warrant can be issued for a person with a revoked FOID who has weapons and refuses to turn those over to authorities.

Hain told the Daily Herald it's standard protocol for the Illinois State Police to send the sheriff's office a letter when a FOID card is revoked. He said the former sheriff and his deputies did not follow through in tracking those individuals down, according to the article.

More via the Daily Herald

Image via Kane County Sheriff's Office