The Lake County Sportsmen’s Show, which had its November and December show permits pulled after three vendors were arrested for allegedly selling ammunition without checking the purchaser’s identification, apparently will not be returning to Grayslake this month.
A message on an answering machine used by the Sportsmen’s Show announced Wednesday that the January show has been canceled and encouraged callers to check the hot line for developments.
Grayslake officials had been expecting Michael Miljan, manager of the gun show, to request a permit from the Lake County Fair Association to use the fairgrounds on the third Sunday of the month, when the show normally is held.
“He hasn’t even come in to sign a contract,” Dave DeYoung, president of the Lake County Fair Association, said. “I really don’t know what is going on. He has not applied for new dates or signed the contract.”
Attempts to reach Miljan for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.
Grayslake Mayor Pat Carey said she and others have been considering regulations to strengthen security around the 20-year-old event that has been billed as the largest gun show in the Midwest. Among the ideas offered, but not decided on, is to require video cameras in rooms where guns are on display, she said.
“I’d like the show to not be there at all,” Carey said. “I do consider it a safety hazard.”
Grayslake Police Chief Larry Herzog echoed her sentiments.
“I think it’s a good thing for the Village of Grayslake that we won’t have the thousands of weapons and ammunition coming into the community that day,” Herzog said. “It’s also a good thing that we don’t need to assign our limited resources to the January show.”
Herzog said the potential for accidents or illegal activity exists when large numbers of weapons are transported to and from the community.
About 30 weapons have been reported stolen from the gun show over the last 15 years, he said.
Last month, a Michigan man who sold ammunition to an undercover police officer at the October show without looking at the officer’s firearms identification card pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor gun charge.
He was fined $200, placed on a year of court supervision and ordered to pay court costs.
Two other men, one from West Allis, Wis., and one from DeMotte, Ind., are awaiting trial on charges that they also sold ammunition without looking at the undercover officer’s firearms identification card, a requirement for the legal sale of ammunition in Illinois.
