BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) today filed a federal lawsuit today against the head of the Illinois State Police and the agency’s Firearms Services Bureau chief, alleging they have allowed the agency to indefinitely deny state residents their right to carry by failing to process Concealed Carry Licenses in violation of state law. The case is known as Luce v. Kelly.
Joining SAF are the Illinois State Rifle Association and four private citizens. Named as defendants are ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly and Firearms Services Bureau Chief Jarod Ingebrigtsen in their official capacities. Plaintiffs are represented by attorneys David G. Sigale of Wheaton, Illinois and Gregory A. Bedell of Chicago. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.
“Illinois was the last state in the country to establish a licensed concealed carry program because we sued them in federal court and won,” SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb recalled. “The legislature passed a law requiring the ISP to either approve or deny an application within 90 days if the applicant supplies fingerprints, or 120 days if fingerprints are not submitted.
“But the ISP is habitually leaving applicants in legal limbo for months,” he said. “Compounding matters, there has been a surge of CCL applications over the past 12 months. Our plaintiffs have been waiting for months and have received nothing.”
SEE ALSO: Massive Delays for FOID Card, CCW Permits in Illinois As Crime Spikes
According to the lawsuit, the individual plaintiffs “are concerned about being able to properly exercise their right to armed self-defense in public, especially given recent events and the current spate of car-jackings that have plagued Chicago and the collar counties.”
“The State Police cannot justify these delays,” Gottlieb observed. “As it stands, the ISP is indefinitely denying Illinois residents their fundamental Second Amendment right to carry a concealed sidearm in public for personal protection. We’re saying in this lawsuit that if the State of Illinois conditions the exercise of a fundamental right on the receipt of a license, then the ISP needs to comply with state law and process those applications in a timely manner as required by law. We’re taking them to court in an effort to make that happen.”
About SAF
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.
Girlfriend applied for her first FOID (Firearm Owners ID) card last month. About two weeks later it arrived in the mail. My CCL renewal has been “pending” since last July. I know that as a taxpayer I’ll be footing the bill for this lawsuit, but I hope the State loses big time. It’s typical Chicago politics.
Try merely renewing your FOID! And the boilerplate letter they send to blow you off.
Overturn the FOID laws and respect the CC rights. While IL is at it, the US should repeal NFA. Establish a new set of laws for “destructive devises” in absence of the bad case law that established the NFA.
ANY so-called “gun control” is NEVER about stopping any crime, saving lives, for the children, etc. It is ALWAYS about disarming the American Citizen. Remember that and act accordingly!
It took 13 MONTHS for them to issue mine!