by Attorney Eric D. PuryearOver the last year, we have noticed an increase in amount of time that the Illinois State Police (ISP) take to process appeals of denials of Firearms Owner Identification (FOID) cards and concealed carry permits. Sadly this is nothing new, as the ISP has been improperly delaying firearms-related matters for many years.
Illinois law sets timeframes for appeals when a person’s concealed carry permit application is denied, or when their FOID card application is denied. Sadly, the ISP routinely takes many weeks or months longer than the allows. The ISP often blames theses delays upon the volume of applications or their staff levels.
This trend of the ISP delaying firearms-related matters is nothing new. Back in 2008, I wrote an article for my gun rights website LearnAboutGuns.com that addressed how the ISP were unlawfully delaying FOID cards back then. Hundreds of people commented on that article, mainly discussing how their FOID card was improperly delayed. A petition that I created for that issue in 2008 received over 1,200 signatures, which again shows that the ISP have been dragging their feet when it comes to gun matters for quite some time now.
Handling FOID and concealed carry permit denials in Illinois (and permit to carry weapons denials in Iowa) is something that I truly enjoy. That is all the more true when the situation is one where we are able to help a law-abiding citizen obtain their gun rights in the face of improper bureaucratic red tape and delays.