Chicago Doesn't Trust Retired Police Carrying Guns

The claims about liability just isn't a serious concern by the city. These officers are not working for the city. The government does face liability any more than a state does from licensing private citizens to carry concealed handguns. I just don't understand this opposition by gun control advocates to police carrying guns.

Retired Chicago Police officers will be getting letters in the mail soon saying the city won't certify them to carry guns -- a move that 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 across the country to carry concealed weapons.

But the city is worried about the liability of allowing retired cops to carry guns when they haven't gone through refresher training or undergone mental and physical fitness evaluations. The city also is concerned about the lack of a national database of retired officers authorized to carry guns. . . .

Mecklenburg said she did not know how many of the city's 9,000 retired cops have asked to be certified to carry a gun. . . .