An Illinois lawmaker wants the state’s Firearm Owners Identification card requirement to
become a thing of the past.
State Rep. Andrew Chesney, R-Freeport, has filed a bill to eliminate the law that forces
residents to obtain a FOID card to legally possess or purchase guns or ammunition.
“My proposal is we completely gut the program,” Chesney said. “It's not effective. It's the
number one call I get to my district office, even more than unemployment. It's just an
unnecessary hurdle for anybody that wants to lawfully possess firearms.”
Among other complaints, Chesney points to frustration over a massive backlog of
applications with the Illinois State Police. He says the delays are affecting residents in
every district across the state and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle should pay
attention.
“It's impacting people of color,” Chesney said. “It's impacting the poor and the working
poor. You have a system that's antiquated and difficult and it's not designed in a user-
friendly way that gives access to everybody.”
Additionally, he says the antiquated system has resulted in out-of-date information being
used by officials and has led to errors like the 2019 arrest of state Rep. Curtis Tarver, D-
Chicago.
“What this is doing is taking and making what would otherwise be law-abiding citizens
and turning them into misdemeanor criminals,” Chesney said. “We can't stand for that.
That's not the way we treat our citizens.”
Tarver was arrested in November 2019 and charged with failing to surrender a concealed
carry license. According to reports, officers found him with a gun during a traffic stop.
Tarver explained that a renewal of his FOID card was not yet reflected in Chicago Police
Department records, leading officers to believe his concealed carry license was invalid.
The charges later were dropped.
Chesney says the incident will be featured in his appeal to new House Speaker Chris
Welch for a vote on his proposal. He’s encouraged that a conversation could begin on the
matter.
“This program, and this dysfunction, has put even people in his caucus, in jail,
wrongfully in jail, because of these mix-ups,” Chesney said.
Illinois’s FOID card requirement has been in effect since 1968. Similar legislation
introduced in previous years has not seen a vote by the full House.
“There's no reason it can't be fixed,” Chesney said. “The only reason it won't be fixed is
because they're making it political, which it shouldn't;t be political. Forty-six states don't
even do this. There’s no reason it can't be done in Illinois.”
Hawaii, New Jersey, and Massachusetts are the other three states with a similar law on
the books.
If the FOID requirement were to be eliminated, federal waiting periods and background
checks for firearm purchasers still would be in place.