The lawsuit by the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) and the Second Amendment Foundation was filed on Monday, February 3. Many gun owners have noticed that the State Police is getting slower and slower at responding to Illinois applications to get and renew a Firearm Owners’ Identification (FOID) Card, a required document when purchasing a gun from a registered gun dealer. The FOID Card law has been in place for more than 30 years. It is a “gun control” law unique to Illinois; no other state recognizes the Illinois FOID Card for purposes of gun ownership, and most U.S. states do not require gun owners to maintain identification cards at all.
The ISRA/Second Amendment Foundation lawsuit alleges that there are currently massive problems with the routine application process, the routine FOID card renewal process, and the processes of FOID card enforcement and reinstatement. In recent years, the State of Illinois has “swept” $29.5 million from the dedicated State funds that were supposed to support FOID card issuance and enforcement, and has taken the money to be spent on other things. This has meant that the back office that examines applications, issues the cards, and reissues the cards to persons who have won reinstatement has been starved of necessary funds. “It should not take years for someone to get a FOID application approved,” the ISRA said.