Posted on 12/03/2011 6:51:03 AM PST by marktwain
While Illinois may be the only state that does not have some form of concealed carry, it was not left out of the rise in sales of firearms on Black Friday. According to WLS-TV in Chicago, the Illinois State Police reported a 42% increase in the number of applications for Firearms Owner ID (FOID) cards on Black Friday compared to last year. Almost 2,900 new applications were received for FOID cards this year. Bear in mind that these are NEW (would-be) gun owners because once you have a FOID card it covers all your guns and is good for 10 years.
However, and I think the reporter for WLS-TV doesn't quite get Illinois firearms law, an application for a FOID card is not approved immediately. The State Police have up to 30 days to approve it and return it to you. Until you have a valid FOID card in hand, you can't buy a firearm, ammunition, or a Taser.
This is from an email this evening from Thirdpower of Days of Our Trailers blog:
You can apply for your FOID through most FFL's if they're smart. It normally takes 3-4 weeks to get it through the ISP so while you could 'purchase' your firearm by perhaps putting down a down payment, you cannot actually fill out the 4473/NICS check until you have the FOID in your possession. Then there's a 24hr waiting period for long guns and 72 hour for handguns.
We will have to wait until the NICS stats are out to get a better idea of just how much actual gun sales rose in Illinois during this period. Nonetheless, this many applications for FOID cards means another 2,900 gun owners are added to the rolls of gunowners in the Land of Lincoln. And THAT is a good thing.
Note: A big thanks to Kurt Hofmann, the St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner, and Thirdpower for answering my questions so quickly about Illinois gun law and FOID cards. I really appreciate their help!
Thirdpower put together this primer on Illinois gun laws a couple of years ago. It is a good starting place.
“Firearms Owner ID (FOID) cards”
Say what? Registration by any other name is still registration. Registering the owner rather is equally as onerous as registering the firearm.
Time to take back the country...and still the sheeple sleep.
I live in IL and have my FOID card, if I go to any other state & try to purchase a gun and state that I live in IL, I have to show my FOID card or they will not deal with me. Most likely they just turn me away as they do not want to deal with Illinois laws.
Mere possession of a FOID card is no proof that the possessor actually owns a gun. Somebody else in their home may own a gun, or they go shooting with friends who have guns and want to buy their own ammo...either way, lots of people have FOIDs but don’t own guns.
That said, it’s still BS.
So, if I live in Ohio, own guns, move to Illinois, do I have to have an FOID? Total Bovine Feces!
Had that happen to me a few years ago in AZ when I was a NV resident. Went to buy a gun at a big name store and when they found out I was from NV, they turned me down. It seemed that Las Vegas/Clark County had a law that the gun had to be registered/OKd with them and the dealer didn't want to go through the hassle. That has since changed.
Now if we could only get CCW holders to be able to do that with handguns in any non-resident state.
All other categories of gun ownership stayed steady.
Yes. Total suckage, no?
They would never know...
On the other hand, I don’t have a hankerin’ to live in Illinois... :)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.