Gila's Place

A menagerie of eclectic things…

I never understood how the Illinois FOID card ever made law. It’s in direct opposition of the second amendment.

The FOID Card was created in 1968, by the Firearm Owner’s Identification Act (430 ILCS 65), as part of a public safety initiative in the State of Illinois to identify those persons eligible to possess and acquire firearms and firearm ammunition. FOID FAQs

Hasn’t it always just been a reason to collect more money from Illinois citizens and track who owns firearms? I believe, now more than ever, that the latter has always been the real target.

Countless numbers of people have been charged and convicted over the years, of possessing firearms without a FOID card. But in 2017, Vivian Brown was accused, and fought back, claiming that under the US Constitution, she, as a law-abiding citizen, was within her right to possess a firearm in her own home, without a FOID card.

Finally, someone who can make it matter, agrees.

Aug. 2021, Judge T. Scott Webb, dismissed the charges against Brown, ruling that under the second amendment, article I, section 22, of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, the states requirement of requiring a FOID card is unconstitutional.

In his ruling, Judge 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.”

While the judge’s ruling exonerates Brown it does not change the current law requiring Illinois gunowners to maintain a FOID card. It does, however, open doors for the Illinois Supreme Court to take up the law’s constitutionality.

In today’s cancel culture, is it possible we might finally see something worth cancelling, on the block?

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