Annie Sweeney and Stacy St. Clair
Chicago Tribune (TNS)
Illinois residents shopped for more guns and applied for more firearm permits in 2020 than at any other time in history, according to statistics released Wednesday by state police.
With events during this unprecedented year driving the demand, there had been more than 500,000 serious inquiries to date about purchasing guns, authorities said, representing a 45% increase over 2019.
The state also has received a record 445,945 applications for firearm owner’s identification cards as of November 2020, a 167% jump from the 166,649 applications in 2017. The Illinois State Police did not release numbers for any other years but said the 2020 applications “blew past” a previous surge in 2013 after concealed carry licenses were first offered.
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