Tweet
https://twitter.com/StacyStClair/sta...59365860368386
Illinois has the FOID system (Firearm Owner ID), where all Illinois residents, if they wish to legally purchase guns and ammo, must register for (you know, the well regulated part). This allows the Illinois State Police to perform a background check and approve/deny you.
Problem is, the 2A nuts want the FOID gone, and have hamstrung the department financially by limiting the budget. And when the ISP raised the fee to register foe the *ten* year card, 2A nuts went apesh** over the *$10* fee. (Yes, it's a dollar per year.)
On top of the initial issues, the FOID system is only as good as the information that goes into it. If other departments within AND outside Illinois (or even the ISP itself) doesn't port data into the FOID system, it's been hamstrung from finding red flag data itself.
The backlog for the FOID, which is capped at 30 days before you're automatically approved with a shrug, was bad pre-pandemic thanks to finance issues causing short staff and searches to be limited, and has only gotten worse thanks to the shutdown of the pandemic.
And finally, on the issue in the above Tweet, the ISP may know of red flags triggered by the FOID system after someone has legally obtained the FOID, but the revocation of the FOID and/or firearms in possession is handed off to the local police/sheriff department. ISP, who oversees the goddammed system, isn't allowed to act upon it themselves.
The FOID system is a good start (again, well regulated), it's not great, and it definitely needs to be fixed, but the 2A nuts singlehandedly neutered it because they're (rightfully) concerned their own actions will cause themselves to lose the ability to own/purchase guns.
In 2019, there were more than 26,000 Illinois residents deemed too dangerous to own a gun.
Then the Pratt shooting happened and the FOID enforcement flaws were exposed.
Nothing changed. In fact, it got worse.
By 2020, the number had grown to over 30,000 - a 15% increase.
Then the Pratt shooting happened and the FOID enforcement flaws were exposed.
Nothing changed. In fact, it got worse.
By 2020, the number had grown to over 30,000 - a 15% increase.
Problem is, the 2A nuts want the FOID gone, and have hamstrung the department financially by limiting the budget. And when the ISP raised the fee to register foe the *ten* year card, 2A nuts went apesh** over the *$10* fee. (Yes, it's a dollar per year.)
On top of the initial issues, the FOID system is only as good as the information that goes into it. If other departments within AND outside Illinois (or even the ISP itself) doesn't port data into the FOID system, it's been hamstrung from finding red flag data itself.
The backlog for the FOID, which is capped at 30 days before you're automatically approved with a shrug, was bad pre-pandemic thanks to finance issues causing short staff and searches to be limited, and has only gotten worse thanks to the shutdown of the pandemic.
And finally, on the issue in the above Tweet, the ISP may know of red flags triggered by the FOID system after someone has legally obtained the FOID, but the revocation of the FOID and/or firearms in possession is handed off to the local police/sheriff department. ISP, who oversees the goddammed system, isn't allowed to act upon it themselves.
The FOID system is a good start (again, well regulated), it's not great, and it definitely needs to be fixed, but the 2A nuts singlehandedly neutered it because they're (rightfully) concerned their own actions will cause themselves to lose the ability to own/purchase guns.
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