The Windy City has its fair share of problems, but a lack of violent criminals isn’t one of them, as anyone who takes a moment to look through local crime news source CWB Chicago knows for a fact.
That excess of crooks is what makes a CBS News Chicago report on law enforcement actions against responsible firearm owners all the more inexplicable, revealing not just egregious violations of constitutional rights but the needless squandering of police and prosecutorial resources. The report, Black gun owners in Chicago charged with felonies despite valid FOID cards, CCLs; say they're traumatized, arises out of an investigation of several alleged instances of law-abiding firearm owners being prosecuted for gun felonies after being stopped for minor traffic violations.
Some background first: As the Illinois State Police (ISP) website explains, to legally possess firearms Illinois residents must have a FOID card issued by the ISP. In turn, a valid FOID is necessary to obtain a concealed carry license (CCL). All cards issued by the ISP Firearms Services Bureau are now “combination” cards, being a FOID card with a CCL indicator (yes or no), meaning anyone with a valid CCL has a FOID card. A CCL holder who does not have their physical FOID/CCL card with them may produce, to law enforcement, the digital version of the card, or eCard (“The eCard communicates the status of your FOID/CCL in real time and looks like the new Combo card”). Information about FOID cards and concealed carry registration is kept and updated through an electronic data processing center, the Law Enforcement Agencies Data System (LEADS), a statewide, computerized telecommunications system.
The CBS News report highlights the case of 46-year-old Louis McWilliams, who was pulled over by the Chicago Police Department (CPD) in April because his vehicle was missing a front license plate. “Police body camera video shows that after the police stopped him, the first thing [McWilliams] did was tell the officers he had a gun in the car,” and he can be seen handing what appears to be his FOID/CCL card to the officer. (Parts of the body cam video can be seen here.) McWilliams was nonetheless arrested because the officers advised that “we can’t verify your concealed carry [license]” in the LEADS system.
CBS states that even though McWilliams produced a valid FOID/CCL card that was retained by the officers and formally inventoried in the arrest record, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office approved the filing of two felony charges against him, for aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon and unlawful use of a weapon.
McWilliams also had his vehicle impounded, was locked up in jail for a day, and had to spend time and money fighting the felony charges in court. The charges were not dismissed until June, and he is now taking the necessary steps to have the arrest expunged so that it doesn’t show up in a background check. Despite the court’s dismissal of the charges months ago, CBS advises that McWilliams has yet to have the CPD return his legally acquired firearm to him.
CBS was unsuccessful in getting Chicago’s Police Superintendent to explain why McWilliams was arrested and charged as that official “declined an interview,” and Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke was said to have similarly turned down the opportunity to discuss the decision to proceed with prosecution. The investigators who contacted the Illinois State Police were advised that, while the ISP could not comment on McWilliam’s FOID or CCL specifically, changes in an individual’s FOID/CCL are uploaded “immediately” in their database, and “all law enforcement will see that change when they run a driver’s license check through LEADS … Should an officer indicate they could not check the status in LEADS, the officer should not take any law enforcement action AS IT [RELATES] to a potential FOID/CCL violation” (emphasis in original).
The CBS investigators concluded that it is “nearly impossible to know how many drivers are wrongfully charged with unlawful gun possession, only to have the charges dismissed. Neither CPD nor the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office track this specific data.”
One of the many concerning elements in the CBS report is the lack of an explanation for why the CPD officers appeared unable to verify FOID/CCL information using real-time LEADS. In addition to the ISP statement that any changes in FOID/CCL status show up immediately, a LEADS bulletin titled FOID and CCL Status Check (June 25, 2025) indicates that officers could have verified the information in more than one way. “FOID and CCL are automatically checked with every Name, Sex, DOB and/or IL DLN [driver’s license number] query. Users can also inquire on FOID and CCL independently through LEADS regarding the status of an Illinois Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) or Concealed Carry License (CCL)” by name/date of birth or by the FOID/CCL number.
Both the National African American Gun Association (NAAGA) and the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) have commented on the CBS News investigation. Phil Smith, NAAGA founder and president was quoted in the CBS report saying he was “frustrated, but not surprised, to learn drivers in Chicago are being charged with felonies despite having valid firearm licenses.” He “urged Black gun owners who’ve gone through something similar to not feel discouraged from exercising their Second Amendment rights, and to take legal action if they feel they’ve been wrongfully arrested.” In a separate article, the ISRA condemned the arrests as “discriminatory” and “a grave injustice and a violation of constitutional rights.” “When properly licensed citizens are handcuffed, booked, and charged for exercising their rights, it undermines public trust and exposes a dangerous double standard.”
McWilliams himself points to the unfortunate reality that “no matter how much you follow a system of which they create, they can still deem you wrong.” According to CBS News, he is considering a lawsuit against the CPD. The ISRA is calling for an investigation to determine how such prosecutions occurred and who approved them, and the CBS News report invites others who believe they were “wrongly arrested despite having valid firearm licenses” to fill out their Firearm Traffic Stop Survey.
It’s nothing short of mindboggling to think that there may be more instances of individuals who have successfully navigated every bureaucratic hoop and hurdle that Illinois and Chicago have placed in the way of ordinary citizens lawfully exercising their Second Amendment rights only to face arrest, prosecution, the stigma of felony charges, and loss of their time, money and property because the government system isn’t working as it is supposed to. As the ISRA observes, it’s “a chilling example of how far Chicago’s anti-gun bureaucracy has gone in violating constitutional rights.”
Considering the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice has pledged to uphold Second Amendment rights against state infringements, this may be another opportunity for intervention.
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