Bitter Clinger

Wouldn't this be considered an ex post facto law? You're perfectly legal one day, then they create this law which instantly makes you a criminal. Then they come to take away your civil rights and confiscate your legally owned property without due process. Are we living in China now?

Every FOID I've ever received has only been good for 5 years. How are you guys getting 10 year FOID's?

She must have been a Republican.

I'm guessing that there is no way the FOID will be struck down. The powers that be won't let that happen and somehow successfully argue that it's constitutional, or should be allowed since they've had it for over 50 years. If anything, the FOID might be declared not necessary for that one elderly woman and that's about it. They will force the rest of us to have one.

I would imagine if they can pass the NICS, then they could get their gun. No FOID or other nonsense required.

But waiting periods and other delays are also unconstitutional.

Man, you guys would hate me. Old guy in his 500 hp sports car doing 55 mph. I'm just not in a hurry anymore.

“The problem, of course, is if you have to transfer it to and from and that was not covered in this case, so you’d still need a FOID card,” Pearson said. I don't get this. If the FOID is unconstitutional, then why would you need it for anything. I'm also concerned as to how the original ruling stated that it was unconstitutional "in this particular case". Do we have a 2nd amendment civil right or don't we? Do we have equal application of the law, or don't we? Why are these cases trying to narrow the rulings down to a very specific, tiny thing? If I still need to have a FOID to buy, possess or "transfer to and from" a firearm or ammunition, then what's the point? So I may not need a FOID to keep a firearm "in my home", but I'll need it if I ever want to take it out of my home? The whole thing is absurd.

I call over a family member and they park their car in my garage. I load up their car with my guns. He drives away. Cops pull him over and try to search the car. They can't because they have no PC to even have stopped him. They do it anyway, but they can't take the guns because they are now the family members and not mine. Family member sues cops for 4th amendment civil rights violations. We can argue hypotheticals all day.

They need a separate search warrant to open the safe. I wouldn't open it for them either. Why make it easy for them? At a minimum it would give you time to transfer the guns out of your house to a friend or family member.

Get a safe too. Keep as many guns locked up in there as you can.

This is one of the main reasons I have a gun safe. Not necessarily just for theft protection, but for confiscation protection.

Just curious, did you get your guns back or are they still "confiscated" since they haven't given you your FOID yet. Also, did you take any further legal action regarding the unlawful entry to your apartment by police?

Cordell, like it's already been stated, go read the Federalist Papers and other resources to learn what the founders truly intended. Also, some leftists in black robes sitting on some high court redefining what the 2nd amendment is doesn't miraculously change its true meaning. Again, read what the founders intended. The people should have whatever weapons they need to defend against a tyrannical government.

Molly pretty much nailed it in her definition of the 2nd amendment. This is what the founders intended it to be and you can find their detailed explanations of it in the Federalist Papers. They make it very clear as to what the 2nd amendment means. When you hear an anti-gun person make idiotic claims that "it's only meant for hunting" or "it only applies to the national guard" or some other nonsense, it's obvious that they are totally clueless of its true meaning and history. Also, the Bill of Rights, including the second amendment was created in September of 1789 and ratified in December of 1791, NOT 1776.

If you put forth a good effort, I think you can get this situation resolved and your guns back. In any case, you should definitely try. At the worst, you might need to hire a lawyer to help out and at the very worst you can always move out of state if necessary.

The issue isn't about "cooperating" with police. In a case like this, you don't want any contact with them if you can avoid it since nothing good will come of it. You saw what happened in your case when you "cooperated". It's about asserting your rights. You don't need to talk to the police, you didn't need to let them search your house and you certainly didn't need to let them "voluntarily" cart you off to a mental health facility. In this case, you didn't assert your rights and are now in a bind because of it. This situation could affect you for the rest of your life and should be a lesson for everyone.

Lesson to be learned that most of us here already know, but you had to learn the hard way. Shouldn't ever have made suicide threats to begin with, but besides that: - NEVER talk to police. You should have never opened the door when they arrived. - NEVER let the police in your house, ever, unless they have a warrant. - NEVER voluntarily go with them to a mental health facility. You should have let them arrest you. Unfortunately, since you agreed to talk to them, let them in your house, take your guns and cart you off to the loony bin, you're pretty much screwed. You probably should get a lawyer at this point and now it's going to cost you a lot of time and money. None of this would have happened if you just followed rule number one (don't talk to police).

You say you're moving out of state soon. If that's true, then my opinion is that you shouldn't waste your time trying to get a FOID in IL. You say "I would like to obtain my FOID prior to moving in hopes that it will make the process of being licensed in my new state will be that much easier". But, most states don't require a FOID or other "license" to own a gun. I think there are only two states in the country that have this unconstitutional requirement (Illinois and New Jersey). Other states don't have "FOID" cards, so if you're moving to somewhere other than IL or NJ, you won't need a "license". Now about the ability to purchase a gun and pass a NICS check, that's a different story and that's probably what you should be working on.

Forget the dollar, I would rather see a class action lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the FOID.

I've always wondered the same thing. My guess is that nobody bothers to challenge it because this state is so corrupt, the lawsuit would go nowhere. Either that or it's like Cerus said above. It's just been around too long and has become accepted "that's just the way things are" even though it's unlawful.

It seems that they have a lot of glitches, probably due to user error. I have a co-worker who applied for his FOID back in July and still hasn't received it yet. They sent him a letter in Sept stating that his "name didn't exist". What I'm guessing is that they thought his name didn't match his driver's license. He verified that what he entered was correct and it did indeed match and re-submitted on the Web site. Then in October they sent him a denial letter, still stating that they had no record of him and he was denied. He tried to call them multiple times, but every time there was just a recording stating that all lines were busy and to try again later. There was no way to leave a message either. He was about to consult with a lawyer to bring a lawsuit against the state for denial of rights. I told him he should just keep trying to call them in the meantime. Finally two days ago he got through and was able to speak to someone. It turns out that some dimwit over at wherever they process and check the FOID applications was mistyping his name, more than once apparently. He got it straightened out and is now approved, but still does not have his FOID. When it's all said and done, it will be about 5 months that he had to wait. Really, the entire FOID act needs to be repealed. Not only because it's unconstitutional, but it seems that IL can't seem to handle the process correctly anyway.

I did not realize that FOID's are supposed to be processed within 30 days. Many, many years ago when I first got mine, it took about 4 months. I have a coworker who is on his second month and still doesn't it. I heard they have a huge backlog, but that seems to always be their excuse.

Was just thinking this same thing. The FOID has got to go.