NW Illinois News

Illinois State Sen. Neil Anderson (R-Andalusia) filed Senate Bill 1754 which aims to abolish Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) Act.

According to the senator, the act, which is more than 5 decades old, is an added burden on Illinoisans when securing firearms. 

“The citizens of Illinois should no longer have to deal with the unnecessary burden of applying and renewing a FOID card that has outlived its purpose,” Anderson stated in his new release. “It’s just another way of impeding on law-abiding citizens’ Second Amendment right.”

According to the senator, the existing process is too long and the Illinois State Police confirmed that it is taking them an average of 121 days to process new FOID card applications. 

ABC7 Chicago reported that “Illinois State Police said they have hired 25 additional analysts since March 2020 with an additional seven to start in March 2021,” as part of addressing delays in the applications. 

But the senator sees a better solution.

“The FOID Act is now over 50 years old, making the process very outdated with the advancements made since,” Anderson stated. “Illinois is one of the few states to still require this kind of process when purchasing a firearm.”

For these reasons, Senate Bill 1754 was filed to remove the requirement to own a FOID card.

Anderson noted that other existing requirements of purchasing and legally possessing a firearm and federal background checks would still be in place.