The state's main way to track firearms owners allowed people to get guns who should not be eligible to have them. That's one of several disquieting conclusions in a report by the Illinois Auditor General on the Illinois' Firearm Owners Identification Card, or FOID card. "The safety of the general public as a whole is at risk," Auditor General William Holland told the Chicago Tribune.

The Tribune story focuses on whether mentally ill residents have FOID cards. The failure to track mentally ill residents is a problem of the state courts as well as the Illinois State Police, which administers the FOID program. All but three of the state's county circuit court clerks do not report mental illness cases to the state police.