“If you’re experiencing delays with your FOID please reach out to our office, we’ve been able to assist many with this process and are here to help," state Rep. Chris Bos posted to Facebook. | Chris Bos
“If you’re experiencing delays with your FOID please reach out to our office, we’ve been able to assist many with this process and are here to help," state Rep. Chris Bos posted to Facebook. | Chris Bos
State Rep. Chris Bos is offering a helping hand to anyone still struggling with securing their Firearm Owners Identification Card through the application renewal process.
While Fox News reports the backlog of FOID card applications has shrunk from 138,722 to 7,800 and processing time is now running a full three weeks ahead of the state law of 60 business days, Bos is pushing to aide those still experiencing tough times.
“The Illinois State Police reported yesterday that the backlog in FOID renewals has shrunk significantly, thanks to additional employees and a streamlined process,” he posted on Facebook. “If you’re experiencing delays with your FOID please reach out to our office, we’ve been able to assist many with this process and are here to help.”
Earlier this year, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed House Bill 562 into law, which expands background checks on all gun sales in Illinois and provides state police funding to take guns away from people with revoked FOID cards, WCIA reported. The bill also establishes an opt-in fingerprint identification program for gun owners.
In a press release, the governor later touted the legislation as part of his ongoing effort to address gun violence as a public health crisis while adding in the neighborhood of a $128 million investment in violence prevention programs courtesy of the new state budget.
With the number of gun owners in Illinois having almost doubled to around 2.2 million over the last decade, according to WCIA, the changes mark the first update to the FOID card system since it was created more than 50 years ago.
“The bill I sign today delivers to Illinoisans everywhere the most comprehensive reform to our state firearms laws in over a generation,” Pritzker said. “Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have come together to shape a law steeped in a commonsense commitment to safety. The state will now require universal background checks on all gun sales in Illinois."
With HB 562 set to take effect Jan. 1, 2022 and universal background checks slated to kick in on Jan. 1, 2024, a circuit court judge has since ruled the Illinois’ FOID card is unconstitutional, MyStateLine reported.
In his ruling, White County Judge T. Scott Webb stated, “A citizen in the State of Illinois is not born with a Second Amendment right. Nor does that right insure when a citizen turns 18 or 21 years of age. It is a façade. They only gain that right if they pay a $10 fee, complete the proper application, and submit a photograph. If the right to bear arms and self-defense are truly core rights, there should be no burden on the citizenry to enjoy those rights, especially within the confines and privacy of their own homes. Accordingly, if a person does something themselves from being able to exercise being able to exercise that right, like being convicted of a felony or demonstrating mental illness, then and only then may the right be stripped from them.”
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