In Illinois, if you want to own a firearm, you have to obtain a Firearms Owner Identification card, or FOID. The FOID has to be carried with you pretty much everywhere, and it's your proof you're allowed to own a gun. It has to be renewed, and if you fail to do so, you're no longer a lawful gun owner, even if you've done absolutely nothing wrong.
And now, a group is suing the state over this requirement.
The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) filed a lawsuit against Illinois officials Tuesday over the state's Firearm Owners Identification Act, also known as the FOID Card Act, a state law that requires Illinois residents to apply for and carry an identification card at all times to possess any firearm or ammunition.
The civil complaint, which Fox News Digital obtained exclusively, challenges the law as unconstitutional, arguing it "entirely deprives everyone of the right to keep and bear arms – including the basic right to possess a firearm for self-defense in the home – unless and until they seek and receive the State's permission."
NCLA is challenging the law's constitutionality, contending that FOID violates both the Second Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment, particularly the latter amendment's Due Process Clause.
...Two of the plaintiffs, Christopher Laurent and Kim Dalton, would like to obtain firearms for self-defense but haven't done so because they "refuse to submit to the state's unconstitutional procedure, and are unwilling to subject themselves to criminal prosecution by violating the law," the complaint reads.
The other, Justin Tucker, did obtain a FOID card but doesn't want to have to continue to renew it or to carry it with him at all times, which state law requires if one wants to retain their right to bear arms in Illinois.
"The police can approach you and demand you ‘show your papers’ to prove you're allowed to exercise this right, otherwise, you are committing a crime," NCLA Senior Litigation Counsel Jacob Huebert, the lead attorney on the lawsuit, told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview.
<Insert Graham Platner and his old tattoo saying, "Papers, please," in a German accent here>
The FOID requirement is particularly insidious because it's not just a long, drawn out process to obtain, but the renewal requirement means that the state continues to force people to pay in order to exercise a constitutionally protected right. It's a poll tax that's dressed up like a license.
Unfortunately, this may be an uphill battle, as FOID requirements have been challenged before and haven't produced the results gun rights advocates want. While many of those were before the Supreme Court's ruling in NYSRPA v. Bruen, which upset a lot of gun control apple carts, it remains to be seen if that ruling will be enough to provide the necessary leverage in overturning the law.
I hope it does, because it's bonkers that gun owners have to keep their FOID card on their person at all time, which means that anyone who steals that wallet doesn't just have their address, but knows there's at least one gun there they might want to take, too, all while the people who support this pretend they're not treating the Second Amendment any differently than other rights.
Because we all have to carry our voter registration card on our persons everywhere we go, right? What about press credentials? No?
Shocking, isn't it?
Here's hoping they prevail, because this is stupid and it will, hopefully, end all of this gun licensing nonsense.
