PA Bill Number: HB1371
Title: Providing for duties of certifying officials and certifying agencies regarding the processing of certification form petitions.
Description: An Act providing for duties of certifying officials and certifying agencies regarding the processing of certification form petitions.
Last Action: Removed from table
Last Action Date: Jun 28, 2024
Gun Rights Groups Sue Illinois State Police Over CCW Delays :: 02/21/2020
There’s an interesting federal court case unfolding in Illinois in which two gun rights organizations — the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) — are suing the State Police (ISP) over alleged diversion of more than $29 million from ISP funds to other purposes, resulting in a dramatic slowdown in approval of applications for Firearm Owner Identification (FOID) cards and concealed carry licenses (CCLs).
Plaintiffs are joined by two private citizens, Ryan A. Thomas and Goran Lazic, whose applications have dragged on for a very long time. They are represented by attorneys David G. Sigale of Wheaton, Ill. and Gregory Bedell of Chicago.
SAF and ISRA have teamed up before, their most famous collaboration being McDonald v. City of Chicago, the landmark Second Amendment case that nullified Chicago’s handgun ban and incorporated the Second Amendment to the states via the 14th Amendment.
Why should anyone outside Illinois care about this case? Because if authorities in the Prairie State can get away with this, it’s a safe wager anti-gun politicians and bureaucrats in other states will eventually try pulling the same stunt.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, contains some serious allegations. It is known as Thomas, et.al. v. Illinois State Police, et.al.The primary allegation is that $29.5 million — monies collected from gun owners for their FOID cards and CCLs — were “swept or transferred” from the ISP to cover costs at other state agencies not associated with firearms regulation.
A federal lawsuit challenging Illinois refusal to take applications
for CCLs from non-residents is headed to the Supreme Court.
Associated Case Gets Support
The SAF/ISRA federal lawsuit isn’t the only action challenging anti-gun-rights officials in Illinois.
There’s an appeal in the challenge of the Illinois Firearm Concealed Carry Act that recently received some heavy-duty support. This case also involves SAF and ISRA, along with Illinois Carry and nine individual citizens, all hoping to force Illinois to issue CCLs to non-residents, allowing visitors to Illinois to carry for personal protection.
The attorneys general from 18 states filed an amicus (“Friend of the Court”) brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, where this case was sent in October, hoping for high court review. It’s no small accomplishment getting state attorneys general to join in support of any legal action, especially one involving gun rights.
https://www.saf.org/saf-challenge-to-ill-non-resident-ccw-prohibition-gets-backing-from-state-ags/
https://americanhandgunner.com/discover/gun-rights-groups-sue-illinois-state-police-over-ccw-delays/
