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As many may know, on 12/2/19, Mom-at-Arms published some research that was done on a lunch break regarding Illinois FOID & Concealed Carry fees /funds not being used for their intended purposes and being moved to other areas. The story was soon picked up by The Truth About Guns, a hardcore pro-2A Illinois lawmaker also shared our findings, and then on 12/10/19, the Illinois State Rifle Association released findings that they have been working on in secret since September of 2019. Well, here’s where we are now. Breaking on 1/31/20:
CHICAGO (CN) – Illinois violates residents’ Second Amendment rights by starving its Firearm Owners ID card program of the funds it needs to operate, gun-rights groups claim in court.
The Illinois State Rifle Association, Second Amendment Foundation and two men currently in the application process for Illinois Firearm Owner ID cards sued the state police force in Chicago federal court Friday.
A FOID card is required to legally possess or purchase a firearm or ammunition in Illinois.
Both Ryan Thomas and Goran Lazic were previously approved to hold FOID cards, but lost them in 2017 and have been unable to complete the process to get them back. Thomas lost his original card when he moved out of state, and Lazic has been trying to get his reinstated since the dismissal and expungement of a charge against him.
The delay in the administration of FOID cards has allegedly been caused, in part, by the transfer of $29.5 million away from the state police funds dedicated to administering the program and running background checks to other state government accounts.
“The effect of this has been a systematic slowdown and sometimes halt of processing of applications and appeals of the FOID Card Act. Applicants and appellants spend days on the phone attempting to reach someone at the [Illinois State Police] with no success. In the unlikely event that a person answers, the applicant/appellant is usually told only that their case is under review,” the complaint states.
The point here is that we ALL, no matter how big or how small, can use our brain power to dig, expose, and spread the word of legitimate stuff that is found. The more viral something of accurate substance becomes, the more likely something is done about it. We do NOT claim credit for the findings the ISRA released on 12/10, as that was their hush-hush operation (we didn’t know they were working on it). It appears they were sitting on it for either the lawsuit or for leverage in the 2020 legislative session (which makes sense as long as it wasn’t going to be used to barter for a “compromise“). Either way, here we are now: it’s all out there and a FEDERAL lawsuit has filed. It’s now time we applaud and back the ISRA and the 2AF for this case, as exposing and spreading information about stuff like the fund sweeps/unused money is what we do as journalists/researchers (we can’t do much more other than bring attention to it in hopes something is done about it). The big dogs acted on it and deserve a round of applause for taking the gloves off and “demanding action” in federal court.
Well played, Illinois State Rifle Association and 2nd Amendment Foundation.
Donation links:
ISRA Legal Assistance
2nd Amendment Foundation
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