The End of the FOID System Might be Right Around the Corner

The Illinois FOID system or Firearm Owners ID system is a decades-old system in the state of Illinois that tracks who owns firearms and residents of the state are required to get a FOID card in order to buy a gun. The system has been lamented numerous times throughout the years and recently opponents of the system have called out the state of Illinois for slowing down the process of getting a FOID card. In some cases, residents of the state must wait upwards of 12 months before their FOID application goes through. 

In People v. Vivian Brown, a young woman was arrested and charged with illegally possessing a firearm. The crime committed by Vivan Brown was owning a firearm without a FOID card. Brown was eligible to receive one as she was not disqualified from owning a firearm as a result of being a drug user or felon. The only reason Brown did not have a FOID card was that she did not apply for one. 

The Illinois circuit judge who originally ruled in the case prior to it going to the Supreme Court said that Vivian Brown should not have been required to get a FOID card for keeping a gun in her home. 

The Illinois circuit court of White County dismissed the charges against Vivian Brown, saying that requiring a FOID card was unconstitutional under the Second Amendment in the US Constitution and Article 1 of the Illinois Constitution. 

Judge Webb, who oversaw the case, said that “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.“

This case is moving on in the courts and could result in the abolishment of the Illinois FOID system, this would be a massive win for gun owners in the state and would-be gun owners in the state.