Letter: Existing system failed twice in shootings

I've just read that charges are being filed against Robert Crimo Jr. His case will work its way through the judicial system and we will know more as time goes on. I wonder, however, if Mr. Crimo is being used as a scapegoat.

While Mr. Crimo may have signed his son's FOID card application, the Illinois State Police have the final word on whether one is issued or not. The local police reported that his son was a clear and present danger and removed knives from the home. I have some questions.

1) Did the state police ever receive a copy of the local police's clear and present danger report?

2) Did the state police receive the report and drop the ball?

3) Was his record as a minor forgotten when he became an adult?

I don't think that anyone believes that Robert Crimo III should have received a FOID card,. He is the poster child for red flag laws. Yet, he received one and was able to legally purchase a rifle.

Even with a FOID card, you still have to pass a background check when you buy any firearm. He passed the background check with a clear and present danger report filed on him. The system failed the public twice.

Are our politicians doing something to fix the system so this doesn't happen again? Of course not. They are using this tragedy to pass an anti-gun agenda hoping that the public doesn't recognize what the real problem is.

John Malec

Bensenville