SPRINGFIELD - As news of the shooter's arrest Monday hit the air waves, word that the Waffle House killings just outside Nashville Tennessee early Saturday morning could provoke new gun control legislation in Illinois' state capitol began to emerge.
Even with Illinois' strict gun laws, it is apparently legal for a relative to hand over confiscated firearms to a person that has no FOID card – if that person is related.
The Nashville shooting could lead to an attempt to close of that gun ownership loophole.
The 29-year-old man witnesses say began shooting outside the Waffle House and continued inside, killing four and injuring several others early Saturday lived in Illinois up until last fall, when he moved to Tennessee.
The Secret Service arrested him last summer as he tried to enter a restricted area around the White House, law enforcement said. After the Secret Service turned over the case to the Tazewell County sheriff's office, they revoked his FOID card and confiscated four registered guns – including the AR-15 used in the shooting.
The shooter, Travis Reinking, lived above his father's business in Tazewell County at the time. His parents reported him for threats to kill himself and suspicions that recording star Taylor Swift was having him followed.
CNN reports an array of bizarre incidents involving Reinking in Illinois:
On June 16, 2017, an employee of his father's business, J&J Cranes, called the Tazewell County Sheriff's Office to report that Reinking came down from his apartment wearing a pink dress and holding a rifle, an incident report states.
The employee told police Reinking yelled "Is this what you f—–g want?" before he threw his rifle in his trunk and left, according to the report.
Around the same time, the Tremont Police Department responded to a call to a public pool, according to another incident report. The pool director told the responding officer that a man in his 20s barged into the pool wearing a pink women's housecoat, the report states. The man dove into the pool and took off the coat and swam around in his underwear. When he got out of the pool, he shouted at lifeguards that he was a man and exposed his genitals to them, the report states.
The rifle stayed in the vehicle and no one at the pool asked to press charges, the officer said in the report. "This is an informational report showing the state of mind of Travis Reinking," the report said.
When the Tazewell County law enforcement seized Reinking's guns and revoked his FOID card, they reportedly turned over the firearms to his father. After a length of time, Reinking's father returned the firearms back to his son shortly before he moved to Tennessee.
"(The father) was advised that he needed to keep the weapons secure and away from Travis. (The father) stated he would comply," reads a report from the sheriff's office.
Under Illinois law, no one may give away a weapon to anyone who does not have a valid owner's card. However, there's an exemption if the transfer is a "bona fide gift" to a relative.
That "bona fide gift" exception could be what is endangered.
The ISRA was asked for a statement – Illinois Review will update story when we hear back.
