The ISRA has learned that the Illinois State Police, using their unconstitutional FOID card system, have decided to suspend 2nd Amendment rights in Illinois for 26 hours. Later today at 2pm, the ISP will be shutting off access to the FOID card portal for firearms sellers. They don’t anticipate restoration of rights until 4pm tomorrow. So for 26 hours, FOID card holders will not be able to purchase ammunition in Illinois since ISP requires the seller to verify that your card is still valid. Additionally, the majority of firearms dealers that we talked to said they would be unable to sell firearms during this time as well.
Make no mistake, what’s being labeled as “system maintenance” is a suspension of Illinois citizen’s 2nd Amendment rights. When the issues caused by this shutdown were brought to the attention of the ISP, they decided to continue anyway. It appears that acting Director Brendan Kelly continues to carry water for Governor Pritzker by interfering with law-abiding citizen’s constitutional rights.
If law enforcement announced they were stopping protests for 26 hours, or that they could search homes without a warrant for the next 26 hours, we imagine the Governor might intervene. However, since this suspension of rights involves an amendment that Governor Pritzker has shown nothing but contempt for, it will proceed.
The FOID card has been found to be unconstitutional in Illinois circuit court and this incident goes to show how this unduly burdensome system can be used to take away rights at the whims of Illinois politicians. If rights can be suspended for “maintenance”, one can only imagine what will happen to them the next time an emergency declaration is made.
The ISRA is encouraging Illinois Firearm owners to call their Senators & Representatives about this suspension of rights by the ISP. We also encourage a phone call to the office of acting Director Brendan Kelly at 217-782-7263 and let him know that the ISP needs to keep the FOID portal open for dealers or scrap the FOID program altogether.
Furthermore, we are encouraging members of the Senate to look closely at how this situation is being handled when deciding whether or not to confirm Acting Director Kelly to a new term heading up the Illinois State Police. From taking away rights without due process and requiring 18 months of bureaucracy to get them back, to banning common firearms with no reasonable way of explaining to the public how the rules of that ban work, and now suspending rights in the name of maintenance. Acting Director Kelly has shown little to no regard for the rights of Illinois citizens and should be removed from his post.
