Cook County led the state of Illinois with 12,027 concealed-carry applicants. There also were more rejected Cook County applications by law enforcement than any other county: 664. Still, the state’s most populous county also represented the lowest concentration of applicants per capita, with 2.3 applications per 1,000 residents. The home of Chicago is the only county in the state with an average of fewer than 2.5 applicants per 1,000 residents.

The greatest concentrations reside in Hardin and White counties in far southern Illinois, topping the per-capita list at 12.5 applications per 1,000 residents each. Hardin and White represent only 54 and 184 applications, respectively.
Advocates for concealed-carry point to the deluge in applications as evidence of a strong interest by citizens in exercising Second Amendment rights and complimented state police on meeting deadlines to establish the permitting process.
“Some people said they would wait until the last minute to issue these, but that’s not the case,” said Illinois Carry spokeswoman Valinda Rowe. “Right now, we think the process is moving right along. The Illinois State Police are doing a great job.”

Read more at: journalstandard.com