Illinois State Police are woefully behind on processing Firearms Owners Identification cards, required by the state for its residents to possess firearms or ammunition.
While the cards are good for ten years, processing times last we knew were between sixty and ninety days in most cases.
The law mandates the cards be processed in 30 days. This morning, it seems they are still nowhere near caught up. And when the mainstream media are reporting on it, then it must be bad.
Chicago (CBS) — Illinois State Police say they’re trying to deal with a huge backlog of applications for Firearms Owner Identification cards.
The agency received more than 28,000 applications for cards during April alone.
That’s on top of an existing backlog of nearly 76,000 applications. The state police say they are dealing with a record number of applications.
State police are supposed to approve or deny applications within 30 days.
The agency says its understaffed due to budget cuts and is having trouble meeting the deadline.
Sounds like reason enough to abandon the program. A right delayed is a right denied.
Was ISP accredited? I had read mid April was target time for evaluation but must have missed the results. I said in my local paper that it would be a travesty to accredit an agency that was so flagrantly violating the law and so self evidently putting so many people in legal jeopardy as a result. Any news on that front?
Yeah yeah yeah they claim budget problems while the state buys acreage from the private sector, millions are spent on buildings that are empty, Quinn takes trips to china and Mexico and monies are tossed around for NEW roads. (That list is lots longer). The fact is the gov has plenty of money and authority to resolve the money issue- and so too does the ILGA. That’s a cop out. Suits should have been filed a year ago about this. I certainly hope rumors about it happening now are true. Ill say it one again – an avalanche of suits from several directions IS the answer. There is no legislative solution beyond simple repeals. The ILGA refuses so courts are the arena of redress.
I’ve been waiting since January. I called yesterday and was told I would have it in 10 days, but I’m not holding my breath.
Sounds like time for a law suit. If they are not following the law, then maybe it is time to go to court and do away with the FOID Act.
Lorrie applied for her foid 6 months ago and has not recieved it yet . Althogh the check was cashed in mid January . I believe it is worse than they are stating . 6 – 9 months might be more of a reality .
It seems to me that little part of the 2nd Amendment that states “shall not be infringed”, is clearly being violated here. If my ability to purchase guns and/or ammo is denied, then my constitutional rights are being violated by the State of Illinois. I’m baffled at how the FOID card is even constitutional.
My wife and I sent our renewals in at the same time in December for February expirations. They cashed the checks in December and I got mine in late January.
She JUST got hers last week and the funny thing is that it still has a February expiration date, this being mailed in May…..
Really irritating sent my application in on Feb 8, 2013. Tried to call can’t get through. Sent two e-mail inquiries. Second inquiry I questioned them on the delays since I have several years doing criminal, civil and driving record checks including for law enforcement agencies. That’ll make them mad. I did not tell them that I had to go through the full FBI background check when I hired on as a federal park ranger because my job was supposed to be converted to full law enforcement ( it wasn’t). THAT process can take a few months but they actually send people around to interview neighbors etc. This stuff that ISP is pulling is pure bs. A triple I criminal background check through NCIC took me all of about 15 minutes when I worked for Nebraska State Patrol in 2006-2007, that was nationwide criminal records. Mental health may take longer. ANY court order for misdemeanor domestic violence shows up on the Triple I, as do warrants etc. So do they have one person doing the checks? For Pete’s sake when I did these checks for pre-hires for the State of North Dakota in the mid and late 90s I had to MAIL requests in to our state law enforcement on agency letterhead, then MAIL driving record checks to the persons previous state of residece again on letterhead, then MAIL requests for civil records (if person looked iffy) to their counties of residence again on letterhead all with our agency checks to pay the fees for searches. The longest this ever took was ONE MONTH.
I wonder if my card is delayed intentionally. My husband, son and I applied at the same time and they received their card about two weeks ago. Mine is still “processing” and they already cashed my check on March,11th. It’s now May 21st.
I sent my renewal in the first week of Feb and I called isp a month ago and they told me that I wasn’t in the system yet. I called yesterday to see when my money order was cashed, it hasn’t been cashed yet . This is ridiculous and does anyone know if there is someone I can call to see what if anything I can do?
If the Illinois ban on concealed carry was overturned in a court case, why can’t legal action be taken in court against the State of Illinois because the FOID program is abridging the constitutional rights of people? Someone should organize a class-action suit.
I applied for my FOID in February, and they cashed my check in early March. It is now the last day of May, and I still have not received my FOID card. There is no justification for taking such a lengthy time for this. It is a denial of a constitutional right. The whole FOID program should be thrown out as unconstitutional.
Sent my application in early February. Check was cashed in Mid-February. After hearing nothing after 2 months I attempted to contact via email. Never received a response to any attempts. Finally spent an entire afternoon trying to call. Finally spoke to someone stating my background check started on March 21 and would take over 60 days to complete….really!? That is a crock. I had a background check performed through another agency last year for other purposes and was responded to and approved within 24 hours. You can’t tell me it takes that long to punch some info into a computer.
Sent my applivation in early march just like every other law abiding citizen my check has been cashed march 10, 2013 here it is june 4th and nothing receivef..im all for the class action lawsuits
They told me it was 30 days from when they cashed the check. Mine was cashed in late March. I called in late May and they told me it could be 60-90 days from then, they also said “some background checks take quite a bit longer than others”. I asked what the criteria was that would determine which take longer, the lady said “I don’t know, some just get flagged and take longer”. This is an outright constitutional infringement. What if my life was in danger and I needed a gun for self defense? I can’t believe they’re able to get away with this,
This is downright illegal and unconditional, I’m extremely disappointed with the whole foid system, the government purposly cuts the foid buffet knowing it would cause huge delays and now lawmakers wants us to go through the same office or a concealed carry permit yea right it’s taking 4-6 for a foid card probably 8-12 for a concealed carry permit. I sent my app end of feb took till may 16 just to cash check, now they are saying 60-90 from when they cash your check really? It takes 3 months to cash a check and 3 months to run a 5 minte background check what a joke I would like to start something against the state a lawsuit or t least protest this is wrong the state can break their own laws but the minute we do we face charges so should they
I just called the ISP to ask what the status is on my FOID application that I sent in January 19, 2013. The check was cashed in March 2013, but still no card. I was told that it was in “process” waiting on a background check. When queried how much longer would it take I was told that because of the current backlog they could not give out any time for completion. This is absolute nonsense, and definately a violation of my 2nd amendment rights as well as a clear violation of the Illinois law. A class action suit against the state seems like a reasonable course of action.
Waiting since the end of February for a renewal. Typical for the non-functional State of Illinois.
I mailed mine in March 9th, they cashed the check March 15th.. I have sent two emails and no response and called once and was told it is still being processed.. This is a little ridiculous, am I even going to get it before hunting season? Good thing my family does not rely on eating what we kill, cause in this state we would go hungry.. Kentucky on the other hand.. I can carry and buy as long as I am a resident.. Maybe it is time to move there..
That’s the state for you love taking your money but never helps us a week after sending it its been over 3 months and I still don’t have it gotta love th gotta love the government
I applied for my card in feb the check was cashed feb23 and on April 3 the background check began its now June 25 and still nothing. This is crazy to me I wish someone would start a law suit I’d love to be apart of that
My timeline was as follows:
Sent the application in on May 31, 2013
Check was cashed on June 4, 2013
Received FOID on June 27, 2013 (yesterday)
No delays at all, I wasn’t even expecting to receive it until at least September based on the comments on boards like this.
I applied for my FOID card on 4/3/13
4/11/13 the check was cashed
5/6/13 the application was scanned to begin the background check
I was informed by my State Rep that through her inquiry that it is a minimum of 60 days after the application was scanned.
FYI you can’t call the ISP and get a person on the phone. You can’t email them questions as they do not answer 85% of them according to their last audit of performance. You get to sit around and wait. Maybe bugging your State Rep could have some positive results, but for me, it only gave a list of further excuses as to how long I will have to wait.
Its ironic that in 3 days I will be celebrating our nation’s independence and yet the freedoms afforded to me as a citizen of the U.S. are being infringed by the State of Illinois.
I applied to replace a lost card in March. The check was cashed March 4. I followed up twice via their online inquiry form and did not receive a response. I called, spoke to a live person, and basically was told to fuck off and die. I called my local rep. Tim Schmitz on July 3 and left a message with his assistant. I never heard back from his office, however I know they made things happen because today I received an email from ISP saying my application was (magically) just processed and I’ll have my card in 7-10 days. So all in all, it will have taken over 120 days to get my card. I suggest doing a bit of digging into your local reps and call the most conservative one. Seems to have worked for me.