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I applied for my foid card back in 2019 and then received a denial for receiving mental health help at a hospital from greater than 5 years ago at that time. I was going through a rough time in high school and ended up in the mental health section for help with being able to cope with certain things (voluntarily but at my parents request to me). Anyway, this has been more than 10 years at this point and honestly was never anything near as serious as it seems. Anyway, I asked my doctor at the time to complete the appeal form and send off to the state after receiving my denial letter and was told that “they don’t do those” so I have put it off until about March of this year. I’ve got a new doctor at this point and have been pretty established with him for about a year and a half almost 2 years now and I finally got the courage to ask this physician to fill out the form and send off to the state. No problem. They filled it out and sent it out pretty quickly and then I’ve waited ever since. When I originally applied, it was a previous address I no longer reside in so I’ve tried to contact the state to update this in multiple ways. Eventually I sent an email to the appeal email listed on the site a few months ago and just received an email stating they’ve updated my address and they’ve received my appeal documents and will review them when they can. They can not offer a time frame for this appeal and I’m truly curious, how long has it taken people for something to actually be done for this denial reason? I find it ridiculous that it’s been well over 10 years at this point but I’m blocked from owning a firearm even with no other mental health documentations or anything other than this one instance as a minor. I have tried to call and speak to literally anyone and I can never get to a person. It’s literally all prompts and then eventually get hung up on by the automated system. I’m beyond frustrated and just don’t understand why there’s no possible way for them to review the paperwork within a reasonable time frame.

Hi everyone, I am 20 years old and I have completed deferred adjudication regarding a Poss. of marijuana and Paraphernalia charge I picked up in Texas. The disposition of the charges is "dismissed". I plan to attempt to get this expunged anyways, but... 1) If I submitted an FOID application right now, do you think I would be denied, since I was never officially convicted? 2) If I am denied, once I turn 21, since the charges will then be irrelevant (since they're only misdemeanors, and the under 21 with a misdemeanor stipulation won't apply anymore),could I then just submit a new application, or would I have to go through the appeals process? Hopefully I could just submit another application. Thanks.

Hi All, I'll try to make this as concise as possible: 4 years ago I was in a psych ward for a couple of days, so I knew when I applied for my FOID just 2 weeks ago that I'd be denied; I just wanted to make sure it was classified as voluntary, which it was not. 4 years ago I was admitted as an emergency admission from the Orland Park PD. I took my father's firearm and went to a parking lot in my car one night debating suicide. I ended up calling a friend of mine to say goodbye. I didn't end up using the gun obviously, but when I returned home the police were waiting for me and admitted me with a petition for involuntary commitment. Thing is, they petitioned for it and only got 1 certificate. There was never a court date, or at least I was never informed of one. Not only that, despite the circumstances, the hospital gave me an application for voluntary admission, which I signed. The hospital signed it, too. The facility director of the hospital was also my psychiatrist and he assures me he did not put in an order for involuntary admission. So, i recently sent the ISP a copy of that voluntary admission for and asked them to correct the record and change it to voluntary. But am I getting this right? What is it that actually constitutes a formal involuntary admission in Illinois? All research seems to point to a future court date, which didn't exist. Further, on the NICS website it says that voluntary admissions and emergency admissions for observation don't count as involuntary... What do you believe will be the outcome? And if it ends up remaining involuntary, my doc will sign off for me if I appeal, but what other "ammo" can I gather to support my case? Certainly, I am much, much better than i was 4 years ago.

In 1999... when I was 19... I was convicted of a class 4 felony for possession of a firearm without a FOID and a class 3 felony for possession of cannabis. The arrests took place at different times, but the cases were combined and I was sentenced at the same time to 3 years in IDOC. I have not had any convictions since then (aside from a LOT of speeding tickets) I have attained both a bachelors and a masters degree and currently work in the Nuclear Industry. In order to obtain my current position I have had to (aside from disclosing my entire criminal history) get cleared by both the FBI and the NRC (for unescorted access to US Nuclear facilities) and I also undergo fairly extensive psychological testing every three years. So the US Government feels I am safe to be around the critical systems that run reactors. In fact, my job is to protect them. At this point, I have decided to try and get my gun rights restored. I applied for a FOID and disclosed I am a felon, fully expecting to get denied & since I have a weapons conviction I am ineligible to appeal to the ISP and must file a petition in circuit court. So far, I have spoken to three different attorneys that advertise their expertise in 2nd Amendment issues and gotten 2 different answers.One told me it was fully possible and that he charged $5000, but he would not travel to Central Illinois for the case. The next one told me after some court cases last year, ISP was arguing that Illinois restoring a person's rights did not remove the federal ban and as such, none of these cases were getting through. He told me $7500 and he would file for executive clemency with the governor's office. The last one told me he charged $3500 and that he successfully argued 2 of these cases in January, stating that when a person who is sent to prison finishes parole, they get their right to vote and hold public office back... which constitutes a "restoration of civil rights" and thus removes the federal restriction. He stated the only people not eligible are those convicted of misdemeanor domestic battery and who are not incarcerated. However, he is also in Chicago and unwilling to travel to take my case.I don't mind throwing some money at this if I have a shot, but I don't want to throw $7500 at it and wait years on a process that currently has a 97% denial rate. I have another meeting with a more local attorney on Monday, I am curious if anyone here has had success or personally knows of anyone having success in a case like this? I of course, will keep this post updated with any developments but I expect this to be a long process.

I was just curious a while a go (1.5 months ago) I posted about what I needed to send to the ISP for foid card appeal. I sent in both the mental assessment for >5 years ago and the appeal and liability and investigation forms. I called the ISP and they said it was "under review". I went to log in and check my application that is under review and it doesn't reflect it when I logiin only shows denied? My onlu other question is how long do they review it. Is it one of those things you have to be patient with and sit this one out. Just curious

I am new to the site and I am in need of assistance of what I should do. I applied for my FOID card in 2010 and was denied for a 1997 conviction for possession of firearm. This conviction occurred when I was 16 years old and I was tried and convicted as a juvenile in juvenile court. Fast forward 21 years later from that conviction and I want to try again to retrieve my FOID card. I havent had any convictions since that 1997 case. Do I apply and check yes for felony conviction and if they deny (which they probably will), go through the appeal process? Do I contact an attorney before applying? I really dont need this expunged or sealed as it happened as a juvenile and employer cant see it or do I need to get this expunged to restore my rights? Any advice anyone could give me will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

New here to this awesome forum. I've been reading a lot of stories on here. I'm hoping someone can nudge me in the right direction here. I was denied a FOID card because of a felony burglary conviction. It's from 1994 (over 20 years), when I was 17 years old (charged as an adult). I appealed to the ISP but was informed that because it was considered a "forcible felony", I would have to petition the circuit court in my jurisdiction (Will County) for a hearing. I've been searching, but cannot find out how to start this process myself. Do I just walk into the clerks office and say I want to file a petition for hearing to restore my firearm rights? I know clerks can't offer legal advice, and therefore aren't very helpful when it comes to providing information. I'm really hoping to be able to do this without an attorney. We are moving out of state soon, and it will be a stretch to afford both the move and hiring an attorney for this. But 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. I have already contacted the Parole Board in Georgia (where we are moving to) about having my gun rights restored there, and I am hopeful that even without obtaining a FOID here, I will be able to obtain one in GA. Can anybody help me as to where to begin? If any other information would be helpful, I can provide it. Just let me know. Thanks!

I've tried searching, and haven't found anything regarding this specific topic; if there is a thread that covers this, please delete this and direct me to the appropriate post. I was "voluntarily" hospitalized in 2014 for 72 hours after planning suicide. As a result my FOID was revoked. I'm beginning the process of appealing. I'm making arrangements with the hospitals, the outpatient program, my psychiatrist, and the therapists I've worked with to have records sent to the ISP. My therapist and my psychiatrist are both supportive of me; they are not opposed to firearms, and believe that i am not a danger to myself or others. The problem I'm hitting right now is on the FOID Appeal Requirements - Mental Health Prohibitor form, where it says, "2. Notarized signed and dated, statement in your own words that contains the following: a. Details and circumstances regarding any and all mental health admissions". How much detail does the ISP want? It's it sufficient to say that my wife left me and i was fired within the same two day period? Or do they want more information? My wife (obvs. not the one that divorced me) believes that my response should be very brief, while my initial answer to the question runs a little over a full page. Can anyone point to an example of what is a *good* example of the kind of response the ISP wants? TBH, my wife and i are seriously considering moving to a different state rather than trying to fight this through the circuit courts when it's inevitably denied. Not living in Chicago and dealing with Chicago corruption and taxes would be a side benefit of moving out of state.

I am going through the appeal process right now for my FOID renewal. I had a question about gun and ammo purchases after you have received your FOID card. There is obviously a background check run when you go to purchase arms or ammunition. When you win an appeal because of a Felony conviction that occurred over 25 years ago, do you still select "Yes" for having to have been convicted of a Felony in the past? If so, won't you be denied a firearm purchase as a result? What's the firearm buying process after winning an Appeal? Thanks!