Firearm Owner’s Identification Card Violations

Gun owner’s rights in Illinois:The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects a right to keep and bear arms. the Second Amendment was adopted on December 15, 1791, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights. the Second Amendment states:

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

Illinois has enacted a law under its Public Safety Statutes called the “Firearm Owner’s Identification Card Act.” This law provides for specific State regulations on possession of firearms, and the requirement for individuals to possess a Firearms Owner’s Identification card, commonly referred to as a “F.O.I.D” Card.

The Firearm Owners Identification Card Act declared as a matter of legislative determination that in order to promote and protect the health, safety and welfare of the public, it is necessary, and in the public interest, to provide a system of identifying persons who are not qualified to acquire or possess firearms, firearm ammunition, stun guns, and tasers within the State of Illinois by the establishment of a system of Firearm Owner’s Identification Cards, thereby establishing a practical and workable system by which law enforcement authorities will be afforded an opportunity to identify those persons who are prohibited by certain criminal laws from acquiring or possessing firearms and firearm ammunition.

The requirements to possess a FOID card are set forth by Illinois Statute 430 ILCS 65/2. This law states that no person may acquire or possess any firearm,stun gun, or taser within this State without having in his or her possession a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card previously issued in his or her name by the Department of State Police under the provisions the FOID act.

Under the Act no person may acquire or possess firearm ammunition within Illinois without having in his or her possession a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card previously issued in his or her name by the Department of State Police under the provisions of this Act.

Exceptions to FOID card: the provisions of the Illinois law regarding the possession of firearms, firearm ammunition, stun guns, and tasers do not apply to a number of qualified people:

• United States Marshals, while engaged in the operation of their official duties;
• Members of the Armed Forces of the United States or the National Guard, while engaged in the operation of their official duties;
• Federal officials required to carry firearms, while engaged in the operation of their official duties;
• Members of bona fide veterans organizations which receive firearms directly from the armed forces of the United States, while using the firearms for ceremonial purposes with blank ammunition;
• Nonresident hunters during hunting season, with valid nonresident hunting licenses and while in an area where hunting is permitted; however, at all other times and in all other places these persons must have their firearms unloaded and enclosed in a case;
• Those hunters exempt from obtaining a hunting license who are required to submit their Firearm Owner’s Identification Card when hunting on Department of Natural Resources owned or managed sites;
• Nonresidents while on a firing or shooting range recognized by the Department of State Police (however, these persons must at all other times and in all other places have their firearms unloaded and enclosed in a case);
• Nonresidents while at a firearm showing or display recognized by the Department of State Police; (however, at all other times and in all other places these persons must have their firearms unloaded and enclosed in a case);
• Nonresidents whose firearms are unloaded and enclosed in a case;
• Nonresidents who are currently licensed or registered to possess a firearm in their resident state;
• Unemancipated minors while in the custody and immediate control of their parent or legal guardian or other person in loco parentis to the minor if the parent or legal guardian or other person in loco parentis to the minor has a currently valid Firearm Owner’s Identification Card;
• Color guards of bona fide veterans organizations or members of bona fide American Legion bands while using firearms for ceremonial purposes with blank ammunition;
• Nonresident hunters whose state of residence does not require them to be licensed or registered to possess a firearm and only during hunting season, with valid hunting licenses, while accompanied by, and using a firearm owned by, a person who possesses a valid Firearm Owner’s Identification Card and while in an area within a commercial club licensed under the Wildlife Code where hunting is permitted and controlled, but in no instance upon sites owned or managed by the Department of Natural Resources;
• Resident hunters who are properly authorized to hunt and, while accompanied by a person who possesses a valid Firearm Owner’s Identification Card, hunt in an area within a commercial club licensed under the Wildlife Code where hunting is permitted and controlled;
• A person who is otherwise eligible to obtain aFirearm Owner’s Identification Card under this Act and is under the direct supervision of a holder of a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card who is 21 years of age or older while the person is on a firing or shooting range or is a participant in a firearms safety and training course recognized by a law enforcement agency or a national, statewide shooting sports organization;
• Competitive shooting athletes whose competitionfirearms are sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee, the International Shooting Sport Federation, or USA Shooting in connection with such athletes’ training for and participation in shooting competitions at the Olympic and Paralympic Games and sanctioned test events leading up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
• And the provisions of this law regarding the acquisition and possession of firearms, firearm ammunition, stun guns, and tasers do not apply to law enforcement officials of this or any other jurisdiction, while engaged in the operation of their official duties.

The Application for an FOID Card requires that each applicant for a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card must make application on blank forms prepared and furnished at convenient locations throughout the State by the Department of State Police, or by electronic means, if and when made available by the Department of State Police; and submit evidence to the Department of State Police that:

• – He or she is 21 years of age or over, or if he or she is under 21 years of age, that he or she has the written consent of his or her parent or legal guardian to possess and acquire firearms and firearm ammunition and that he or she has never been convicted of a misdemeanor other than a traffic offense or adjudged delinquent, provided, however, that such parent or legal guardian is not an individual prohibited from having a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card and files an affidavit with the Department as prescribed by the Department stating that he or she is not an individual prohibited from having a Card;
• – He or she has not been convicted of a felony under the laws of this or any other jurisdiction;
• – He or she is not addicted to narcotics;
• – He or she has not been a patient in a mental institution within the past 5 years and he or she has not been adjudicated as a mental defective;
• – He or she is not mentally retarded;
• – He or she is not an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States under the laws of the United States;
• – He or she is not subject to an existing order of protection prohibiting him or her from possessing a firearm;
• – He or she has not been convicted within the past 5 years of battery, assault, aggravated assault, violation of an order of protection, or a substantially similar offense in another jurisdiction, in which a firearm was used or possessed;
• – He or she has not been convicted of domestic battery or a substantially similar offense in another jurisdiction committed after the effective date of this law in 1997;
• – He or she is not an alien who has been admitted to the United States under a non‑immigrant visa or that he or she is an alien who has been lawfully admitted to the United States under a non‑immigrant visa if that alien isadmitted to the United States for lawful hunting or sporting purposes; an official representative of a foreign government who isaccredited to the United States Government or the Government’s mission to an international organization having its headquarters in the United States; or en route to or from another country to which that alien is accredited; an official of a foreign government or distinguished foreign visitor who has been so designated by the Department of State; a foreign law enforcement officer of a friendly foreign government entering the United States on official business; or one who has received a waiver from the Attorney General of the United States.
• – He or she is not a minor subject to a petition filed under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 alleging that the minor is a delinquent minor for the commission of an offense that if committed by an adult would be a felony; and
• – He or she is not an adult who had been adjudicated a delinquent minor under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 for the commission of an offense that if committed by an adult would be a felony; and
• – Upon request by the Department of State Police, sign a release on a form prescribed by the Department of State Police waiving any right to confidentiality and requesting the disclosure to the Department of State Police of limited mental health institution admission information from another state, the District of Columbia, any other territory of the United States, or a foreign nation concerning the applicant for the sole purpose of determining whether the applicant is or was a patient in a mental health institution and disqualified because of that status from receiving a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card. No mental health care or treatment records may be requested. the information received shall be destroyed within one year of receipt.
• – Each applicant for a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card who is over the age of 18 shall furnish to the Department of State Police either his or her driver’s license number or Illinois Identification Card number.
• – Each applicant for a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card, who is employed as an armed security officer at a nuclear energy, storage, weapons, or development facility regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and who is not an Illinois resident, shall furnish to the Department of State Police his or her driver’s license number or state identification card number from his or her state of residence.
• – Upon such written consent, the parent or legal guardian,of a person under 21, giving the consent shall be liable for any damages resulting from the applicant’s use of firearms or firearm ammunition.

Approval or Denial of the Application. the Department of State Police shall either approve or deny all applications within 30 days from the date they are received, and every applicant found qualified pursuant to the Act by the Department shall be entitled to a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card upon the payment of a $10 fee.

Any applicant who is an active duty member of the Armed Forces of the United States, a member of the Illinois National Guard, or a member of the Reserve Forces of the United States is exempt from the application fee.

Denial of the Application or Revocation, or Seizure of the Card. the Department of State Police has authority to deny an application for or to revoke and seize a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card previously issued under the Act only if the Department finds that the applicant or the person to whom such card was issued is or was at the time of issuance:

• – a person under 21 years of age who has been convicted of a misdemeanor other than a traffic offense or adjudged delinquent;
• – a person under 21 years of age who does not have the written consent of his parent or guardian to acquire and possess firearms and firearm ammunition, or whose parent or guardian has revoked such written consent, or where such parent or guardian does not qualify to have a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card;
• – a person convicted of a felony under the laws of this or any other jurisdiction;
• – a person addicted to narcotics;
• – a person who has been a patient of a mental institution within the past 5 years or has been adjudicated as a mental defective;
• – a person whose mental condition is of such a nature that it poses a clear and present danger to the applicant, any other person or persons or the community. for thesepurposes “mental condition” means a state of mind manifested by violent, suicidal, threatening or assaultive behavior;
• – a person who is mentally retarded;
• – a person who intentionally makes a false statement in the Firearm Owner’s Identification Card application;
• – an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States under the laws of the United States;
• – an alien who has been admitted to the United States under a non‑immigrant visa except that this does not apply to any alien who has been lawfully admitted to the United States under a non‑immigrant visa if that alien is: admitted to the United States for lawful hunting or sporting purposes; an official representative of a foreign government who is: accredited to the United States Government or the Government’s mission to an international organization having its headquarters in the United States; or en route to or from another country to which that alien is accredited; an official of a foreign government or distinguished foreign visitor who has been so designated by the Department of State; a foreign law enforcement officer of a friendly foreign government entering the United States on official business; or one who has received a waiver from the Attorney General of the United States;
• – a person who has been convicted within the past 5 years of battery, assault, aggravated assault, violation of an order of protection, or a substantially similar offense in another jurisdiction, in which a firearm was used or possessed;
• – a person who has been convicted of domestic battery or a substantially similar offense in another jurisdiction committed on or after January 1, 1998;
• – a person who has been convicted within the past 5 years of domestic battery or a substantially similar offense in another jurisdiction committed before January 1, 1998;
• – a person who is prohibited from acquiring or possessing firearms or firearm ammunition by any Illinois State statute or by federal law;
• – a minor subject to a petition filed under the Juvenile Court Act alleging that the minor is a delinquent minor for the commission of an offense that if committed by an adult would be a felony;
• – an adult who had been adjudicated a delinquent minor under the Juvenile Court Act for the commission of an offense that if committed by an adult would be a felony.

Violations: Violations of the FOID act are categorized under Illinois Statute 420 ILCS 65/14 and carry a range of sentences from misdemeanor to felony charges.

It is a Class a Misdemeanor, punishable by up to 364 days in the county jail,to possess, or acquire, a firearm, stun gun, or taser within the state of Illinois without having in a person’s possession a valid FOID card when the person’s Firearm Owner’s Identification Card is expired but the person is not otherwise disqualified from renewing the card, or when the person does not possess a currently valid FOID Card, but is otherwise eligible to have the card. a second or subsequent violation is a Class 4 Felony punishable by 1 to 3 years in the State Penitentiary.

It is a Class 3 Felony, punishable by 2 to 5 years in the State penitentiary when the person’s Firearm Owner’s Identification Card is revoked or subject to revocation; or the person’s Firearm Owner’s Identification Card is expired and not otherwise eligible for renewal; or the person does not possess a currently valid Firearm Owner’s Identification Card, and the person is not otherwise eligible under this Act.

It is a Class 4 Felony punishable by 1 to 3 years in the State penitentiary to knowingly transfer, or cause to be transferred, any firearm, firearm ammunition, stun gun, or taser unless the transferee displays a currently valid FOID Card. a third or subsequent conviction is a Class 1 Felony punishable by 4 to 15 years in the State penitentiary.

Any person who knowingly enters false information on an application for a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card, who knowingly gives a false answer to any question on the application, or who knowingly submits false evidence in connection with an application is guilty of a Class 2 Felony punishable by 3 to 7 years in the State penitentiary.