Illinois Judge Rules Firearm Owner ID Law is Unconstitutional
Image from Illinois State Police.
An Illinois state Circuit Court Judge has ruled that the Illinois law requiring a Firearm Owner Identification Card (FOID) to possess a gun in ones home violates the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The ruling was issued in the case of Illinois v. Vivian Claudine Brown. Ms. Brown’s position was supported by the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and Illinois State Rifle Association. According to Brown’s attorney, David Sigale, this is the second time an Illinois judge has declared the FOID Card Act to be unconstitutional. The court dismissed the charges against Brown, who had a bolt-action rifle in her home, but did not possess an FOID card.
White County Circuit Judge T. Scott Webb was 100% clear in his ruling — the FOID requirement is unconstitutional: “It simply cannot be the case that a citizen must pay a fee in order to exercise a core individual Second Amendment right within their own home.”
In his ruling, Judge Webb observed, “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.”
SAF founder and Executive VP Alan Gottlieb noted: “The FOID card requirement in order to exercise the constitutionally enumerated right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment clearly goes too far in this case. For too long, Illinois has been treating this right like a regulated government privilege and that needs to stop.”
“The idea that an Illinois resident doesn’t enjoy Second Amendment rights until he or she pays a $10 fee for a FOID card is outrageous,” Gottlieb said. “Nowhere should such a mandate be allowed to stand.” This second ruling on FOID card constitutionality could clear a direct path back to the Illinois State Supreme Court, Gottlieb believes.
About the Second Amendment Foundation
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.SAF.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs to inform the public about the consequences of gun control.
