Sheriff Tom Dart calls for more funding to recover guns from owners whose gun licenses were revoked

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart holds up photos of seized weapons as he testifies in support of the state’s proposed assault weapons ban in 2022. Dart on Friday called on the state legislature to expand funding to pay for law enforcement officers to collect thousands of guns currently in the possession of individuals whose Firearm Owners Identification cards have been revoked. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times file photo)

Nearly 30,000 Cook County residents have had their license to own a gun revoked but never turned over their weapons, and state lawmakers must provide more funding for police agencies to recover the firearms, Sheriff Tom Dart said at a news conference Friday.

Standing beside a table covered with some of the more than 1,000 firearms sheriff’s deputies have taken from residents who lost their Firearm Owners Identification cards, Dart on Friday called on state lawmakers to more than quadruple the $2 million in funding available for local departments for FOID card enforcement.