After a triple homicide-suicide in Bloomington, a gun rights advocate says Illinois’ Firearm Owners Identification card revocation processes and gun control laws “don’t work.”

A Bloomington Police Department news release last month said a firearm used in a triple homicide-suicide was recovered at the scene under the body of Christopher Simmons. The firearm was legally purchased by Simmons in 2021. In 2022, Simmons' FOID card was revoked, and he was prohibited from legally possessing firearms.

Guns Save Life Executive Director John Boch said Simmons shouldn’t have had guns.

“In this case, a couple of officers could have knocked on that door and asked about his gun … that might have gotten the gun, but they didn't do that, and the state police didn't do that,” said Boch.

The Illinois State Police informed local law enforcement that Simmons failed to submit a Firearm Disposition form.

“Notification of Simmons’ revocation was sent and included in the law enforcement portal, which local law enforcement agencies can use for enforcement purposes,” ISP spokesman Melaney Arnold told The Center Square.

The Center Square asked Bloomington Police if confiscation or seizure actions were taken, they did not immediately respond.

Boch suggested the General Assembly allocate public funds to assist local departments in seizures.

“In my opinion, the buck stops with the state police because ultimately, they're the senior law enforcement agency in the state, outside the local sheriffs … and unless the General Assembly offers more money to the local law enforcement to have availability for these officers to go out and do this when they're strapped for funds, especially in smaller towns, you're going to get these people that fall through the cracks, and they sometimes do really horrific things,” said Boch.

Simmons was released on “conditional discharge” for 18 months in September 2023 for a misdemeanor gun charge. Boch said probation officers, unlike local law enforcement, don’t need a court order to search and seize firearms.

“If anybody's on probation and parole, their respective probation/parole agents can search their homes without a warrant or anything at any time, that's part of the agreement for these people being out of custody,” said Boch.

Boch said local law enforcement could have contacted Simmons' probation officer to conduct a search after being notified of his failure to submit a Firearm Disposition record.

Separately, Robert Crimo III pleaded guilty Monday to the 2022 Highland Park parade shooting where he killed seven people and injured dozens. ISP is facing civil challenges in the Illinois Court of Claims over issuing Crimo a FOID card. Plaintiffs argue a local police report of Crimo being a “clear and present danger” should have blocked Crimo's card.

In 2022, Lake County Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli discussed the report of Crimo given to the ISP.

“[In September of 2019] a family member reported that Cremo said he was going to kill everyone and Crimo had a collection of knives. The police responded to his residence. The police removed 16 knives, a dagger, and a sword from Crimo's home. At that time, there was no probable cause to arrest. The Highland Park Police Department, however, did immediately notify the Illinois State Police of the incident,” Covelli said in a 2022 news conference.

In 2022, state Sen. John Curran, R-Downers Grove, said clarity on FOID card issues is needed before considering further gun control.

“It would seem to make sense to me when we have a tragic situation, like July 4th that happened, that highlights a problem in our safety net around guns that we first diagnose the problem. What happened specifically and address that problem before we move on to anything else,” Curran told The Center Square in 2022. “That still hasn’t been done here. That’s step one in promoting better gun safety and public safety, and until that’s done, I’m not sure we should be moving on to two, three, four. We have to make sure that this is done first.”

ISP confirmed they didn't attempt to seize Simmons' firearms after his failure to submit a Firearm Disposition form. ISP issued Crimo a FOID despite a “clear and present danger” report from Lake County law enforcement, but have since updated its internal policies to make clear and present danger reports more prominent in FOID application reviews.

Greg Bishop contributed to this report.