Retired Chicago police officers will be getting letters soon saying the city won’t certify them to carry guns, the Chicago Sun-Times report. The move angers the head of the local Fraternal Order of Police. Congress passed the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004 to allow retired and off-duty officers to carry concealed weapons. But Chicago is worried about the liability of allowing retired cops to carry guns when they haven’t gone through refresher training or mental and physical fitness evaluations. The city also is concerned about the lack of a national database of retired officers authorized to carry guns.
Sheri Mecklenburg, general counsel to police Superintendent Phil Cline, said federal law does not define how a department should determine an officer had retired “in good standing.” Mecklenburg does not know how many of the city’s 9,000 retired cops have asked to be certified to carry a gun. “They have no right to do this,” said Mark Donahue, president of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police.
Link: http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-conceal12.html