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FOID Denial and Appeal for Greater Than 5 Years Mental Health


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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. 

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So did you have your regular Dr. fill out the appeal form?

I live in central IL, in Peoria, and I can not find ANYONE that will give me the mental health evaluation for the appeal without charging me $1000+. I have called easily over 40 different Dr/Physiologist/Psychiatric/Counseling Offices and none of them will do the test at all besides this one place that wants $1500 for the evaluation.

Which you are out of your GD mind if you think I would pay that much. But, that's slowly what it's coming to too be able to practice my 2nd amendment right I guess.  

 

DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY ADVICE OR RECOMMENDATIONS ON WHERE I CAN GO? Anything would help, please and thank you.

 

Kind Regards,

Stone

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Stone, we're in Lake County but I can ask my wife for some possible referrals.  How long ago was the event you want to appeal?

 

Seeing $1,000+ fees for a mental health evaluation reinforces my belief that Big Pharma and the Psych profession amplify the stigma of "guns" as cover to protect their revenues. If Psych meds were scrutinized, they would be implicated in many if not most mass-shooters who have soul-less blank-stare zombie expressions. I can think of one case where the Psychiatrist's files confirmed the person was potentially (very) violent, but that info was never reported to the precious NICS system.

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On 10/7/2022 at 11:00 AM, Stone said:

So did you have your regular Dr. fill out the appeal form?

I live in central IL, in Peoria, and I can not find ANYONE that will give me the mental health evaluation for the appeal without charging me $1000+. I have called easily over 40 different Dr/Physiologist/Psychiatric/Counseling Offices and none of them will do the test at all besides this one place that wants $1500 for the evaluation.

Which you are out of your GD mind if you think I would pay that much. But, that's slowly what it's coming to too be able to practice my 2nd amendment right I guess.  

 

DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY ADVICE OR RECOMMENDATIONS ON WHERE I CAN GO? Anything would help, please and thank you.

 

Kind Regards,

Stone

The first doctor I had been with flat out refused to fill out the form for me. The doctor I’ve been with now is my general practitioner who prescribes all of my medications and has completely taken over all care for a little over a year or two. One day I just got the nerve to ask him if he’d be willing to fill it out and he did no questions asked! I was never asked to pay anything for them to do this. That’s absolutely ridiculous in my opinion. You’d think the longer you’ve been out of a mental institution that the more likely chance you’d have established yourself to be functional within society along with the rest. If it helps, I live in Rockford IL and as I said, I’ve been waiting for someone to fill it out since 2019 anyway. I’m just hoping my appeal doesn’t take another year on top of that. 😞

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On 10/7/2022 at 6:14 PM, RECarry said:

Stone, we're in Lake County but I can ask my wife for some possible referrals.  How long ago was the event you want to appeal?

 

Seeing $1,000+ fees for a mental health evaluation reinforces my belief that Big Pharma and the Psych profession amplify the stigma of "guns" as cover to protect their revenues. If Psych meds were scrutinized, they would be implicated in many if not most mass-shooters who have soul-less blank-stare zombie expressions. I can think of one case where the Psychiatrist's files confirmed the person was potentially (very) violent, but that info was never reported to the precious NICS system.

Hey REcarry thanks for answering! I was Hospitalized in high school in 2016, so well over 5 years ago...

Edited by Stone
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On 10/7/2022 at 9:41 PM, Tegan said:

The first doctor I had been with flat out refused to fill out the form for me. The doctor I’ve been with now is my general practitioner who prescribes all of my medications and has completely taken over all care for a little over a year or two. One day I just got the nerve to ask him if he’d be willing to fill it out and he did no questions asked! I was never asked to pay anything for them to do this. That’s absolutely ridiculous in my opinion. You’d think the longer you’ve been out of a mental institution that the more likely chance you’d have established yourself to be functional within society along with the rest. If it helps, I live in Rockford IL and as I said, I’ve been waiting for someone to fill it out since 2019 anyway. I’m just hoping my appeal doesn’t take another year on top of that. 😞

Hey Tegan! Gotcha on that, it's definitely hard and tiring to find someone that will do it. I really hope your appeal doesn't take that long though!

 

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On 10/10/2022 at 11:43 AM, Stone said:

Hey REcarry thanks for answering! I was Hospitalized in high school in 2016, so well over 5 years ago...

I was not able to get a specific referral other than "You need a different local primary Dr. who isn't anti-2A."  Seek treatment for something minor like a rash or cough and build a relationship.  Would a local firearm instructor know some general physicians who would hear your story?  

 

Is it possible that the psych doctors you contacted simply don't like "cold calls", versus being referred to them by a colleague? 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Stone, I’m in a extremely similar situation myself, FOID denied for 5+ Medical, I found someone to do my evaluation for an okay price, my evaluation was sent/received, now I’m just waiting, I was wondering if my different addresses would be a barrier so I called(no answers yet) and I’ve emailed them almost a week ago too and no answer. I was wondering if you knew how long it been since you sent your appeal in and how long did it take to get a reply from them when you emailed them?

 

Also the guy who did it said it usually takes 8-12 weeks.

Edited by Ahnata
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On 10/22/2022 at 12:20 PM, Just some guy said:

So after the evaluation is sent in by the Doctor is there anything else a person needs to do? Or just wait on a bureaucrat to review it?

 

I’ve just been waiting it out at this point. Doctor sent in his evaluation in June/July and I received an email that they’ve received my appeal request documents at the beginning of this month but they’re unable to provide an estimated time frame of when these items will be reviewed. I’m afraid I won’t hear anything back for at least 6 months at this point. Likely much longer based on what I’ve seen which is super frustrating but nothing we can truly do about it I guess. What a state 😒

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On 10/20/2022 at 8:42 PM, Ahnata said:

Hi Stone, I’m in a extremely similar situation myself, FOID denied for 5+ Medical, I found someone to do my evaluation for an okay price, my evaluation was sent/received, now I’m just waiting, I was wondering if my different addresses would be a barrier so I called(no answers yet) and I’ve emailed them almost a week ago too and no answer. I was wondering if you knew how long it been since you sent your appeal in and how long did it take to get a reply from them when you emailed them?

 

Also the guy who did it said it usually takes 8-12 weeks.

I emailed them to update address information back at the end of August and received a reply on 10/1 with them updating my address within the portal and notifying me that they’ve received my appeal documents but still waiting for review. I’d say it definitely takes some time for an actual reply so don’t worry. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

@Molly B.

I’ve been able to use some information that you’ve had on other posts to be able to start my appeal process. I’m curious if there’s much more I can do to hopefully get an ETA of when I may be able to find out my appeal decision? I haven’t heard much after submitting this appeal other than that they’ve received my appeal request. I am hoping to have my FOID within the next few months while I’m going through a process of moving mainly for the peace of mind. Any ideas on who I’d be able to contact or anything more I can do? 

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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 weeks later...
On 10/22/2022 at 12:20 PM, Just some guy said:

So after the evaluation is sent in by the Doctor is there anything else a person needs to do? Or just wait on a bureaucrat to review it?

 

So my friend received his reinstated FOID. WooHoo!! He had filled out a disposition form and had someone hold his firearms. Is there a form he needs to submit to reverse the disposition?

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It had been well over 5 years since I was hospitalized. My primary Dr.  referred me to Dr. Mark Brenzinger, who I saw on Sept. 8th 2022. He filled out all the necessary forms and paperwork and mailed it to the ISP. Tracking confirmed they received all the paperwork on Sept. 14th 2022. It’s now January 10th 2023, and I haven’t heard back from the ISP yet. I check the website daily, but it says DENIED still. Hopefully, sooner than later they review my paperwork and grant me my FOID card.  As a side note, before seeing Dr. Brenzinger I did some price comparisons, and he was by far the most affordable. Not gonna say how much just in case he charges different on a case to case basis. Cheers. 

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On 1/10/2023 at 8:32 PM, CFREUND01 said:

It had been well over 5 years since I was hospitalized. My primary Dr.  referred me to Dr. Mark Brenzinger, who I saw on Sept. 8th 2022. He filled out all the necessary forms and paperwork and mailed it to the ISP. Tracking confirmed they received all the paperwork on Sept. 14th 2022. It’s now January 10th 2023, and I haven’t heard back from the ISP yet. I check the website daily, but it says DENIED still. Hopefully, sooner than later they review my paperwork and grant me my FOID card.  As a side note, before seeing Dr. Brenzinger I did some price comparisons, and he was by far the most affordable. Not gonna say how much just in case he charges different on a case to case basis. Cheers. 

I’m hoping you hear something back soon! My doctor had filled out the paperwork himself rather than referring me out to someone else. I wonder if that will affect anything? Regardless, they filled out and mailed at the end of July. I emailed the ISP appeals email to inform them of my address change (since I originally applied in 2019 and have moved since) and also to inform them of the appeal paperwork being mailed in by my MD. October 1, 2022 I received an email back from them letting me know they’ve received my appeal request paperwork and have also updated my address. 
Again, I emailed the same email 11/29 hopeful for an update since online still shows denied and shows absolutely no status whatsoever to which I received a reply from them 12/26. They simply stated that my appeal is in like for review and I will be notified once complete. They appreciate my patience due to the large volume of appeals they’re processing. 
I understand it’s not a quick process and had no expectation for it to be completed ASAP, however I am slightly frustrated it’s been about 6 months with absolutely no change or update on the appeal. I imagine it’s literally sitting in a pile on someone’s desk for who knows how long and how many come before mine but it’s deflating to say the least. 
I’ve been trying to get all my ducks in a row for leaving a very toxic/manipulative relationship where there has been previous physical abuse. Knowing this person, I feel much more comfortable knowing I am able to legally carry to protect myself/family from immediate threats (just the idea of having such is a huge deterrent to begin with). This person knows I’m waiting for this appeal to go through as well so leaving before being approved is honestly frightening since I’d literally have no way to truly defend myself if needed. They’re much stronger than myself and we share children therefore I will likely at least need to see him every so often in that regard. I plan on getting an OP in place for when the day comes but working at a 911 center, I realize it’s literally just a piece of paper and very dependent on how busy the city is before receiving a response unless I’m literally physically being beaten that very second. Anyway, if you remember, please let me know when they approve you! I’ll try to update if I ever receive one myself. 

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On 1/11/2023 at 7:10 AM, Tegan said:

I’m hoping you hear something back soon! My doctor had filled out the paperwork himself rather than referring me out to someone else. I wonder if that will affect anything? Regardless, they filled out and mailed at the end of July. I emailed the ISP appeals email to inform them of my address change (since I originally applied in 2019 and have moved since) and also to inform them of the appeal paperwork being mailed in by my MD. October 1, 2022 I received an email back from them letting me know they’ve received my appeal request paperwork and have also updated my address. 
Again, I emailed the same email 11/29 hopeful for an update since online still shows denied and shows absolutely no status whatsoever to which I received a reply from them 12/26. They simply stated that my appeal is in like for review and I will be notified once complete. They appreciate my patience due to the large volume of appeals they’re processing. 
I understand it’s not a quick process and had no expectation for it to be completed ASAP, however I am slightly frustrated it’s been about 6 months with absolutely no change or update on the appeal. I imagine it’s literally sitting in a pile on someone’s desk for who knows how long and how many come before mine but it’s deflating to say the least. 
I’ve been trying to get all my ducks in a row for leaving a very toxic/manipulative relationship where there has been previous physical abuse. Knowing this person, I feel much more comfortable knowing I am able to legally carry to protect myself/family from immediate threats (just the idea of having such is a huge deterrent to begin with). This person knows I’m waiting for this appeal to go through as well so leaving before being approved is honestly frightening since I’d literally have no way to truly defend myself if needed. They’re much stronger than myself and we share children therefore I will likely at least need to see him every so often in that regard. I plan on getting an OP in place for when the day comes but working at a 911 center, I realize it’s literally just a piece of paper and very dependent on how busy the city is before receiving a response unless I’m literally physically being beaten that very second. Anyway, if you remember, please let me know when they approve you! I’ll try to update if I ever receive one myself. 

I have yet to even receive an email or message on the FOID website acknowledging that they’ve received my paperwork, so you’re ahead of the game in that respect. I’ve tried emailing to get some type of idea of what’s going on without response. What email are you using to contact them? Terrible about your current situation with your children's father- people like that just suc to say the least. Make sure you also get insured, so when you carry and hopefully never have to defend yourself you have that extra level of protection.  I will certainly update the happenings of my particular case as I’m sure many people in the same situation will appreciate the intell regarding this long waiting period. Cheers. 

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On 1/11/2023 at 1:41 PM, CFREUND01 said:

I have yet to even receive an email or message on the FOID website acknowledging that they’ve received my paperwork, so you’re ahead of the game in that respect. I’ve tried emailing to get some type of idea of what’s going on without response. What email are you using to contact them? Terrible about your current situation with your children's father- people like that just suc to say the least. Make sure you also get insured, so when you carry and hopefully never have to defend yourself you have that extra level of protection.  I will certainly update the happenings of my particular case as I’m sure many people in the same situation will appreciate the intell regarding this long waiting period. Cheers. 


Thank you for your response! The email I’ve used a few times and surprisingly received a few responses is their appeals email (ISP.FOID.Appeals@illinois.gov). It’s definitely never an immediate response. Usually about a month/month and a half response time but better than nothing! 
I sincerely appreciate the advice as well! I didn’t even know there was insurance in that regard but I will be getting such when the time comes just to be on the safe side. I hope you are able to hear something back quickly! Waiting is the worst part but at least it’s in progress in some way, so you’ve done everything on your part that can be done. Ball is no longer in our court 😊

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On 1/15/2023 at 12:53 PM, Tegan said:


Thank you for your response! The email I’ve used a few times and surprisingly received a few responses is their appeals email (ISP.FOID.Appeals@illinois.gov). It’s definitely never an immediate response. Usually about a month/month and a half response time but better than nothing! 
I sincerely appreciate the advice as well! I didn’t even know there was insurance in that regard but I will be getting such when the time comes just to be on the safe side. I hope you are able to hear something back quickly! Waiting is the worst part but at least it’s in progress in some way, so you’ve done everything on your part that can be done. Ball is no longer in our court 😊

I did hear 8B15DAEB-72C4-4701-8F44-2FA547213002.thumb.jpeg.70ea10ccc52485f661578b67bfa5de34.jpegback last week. It was a generated response. As of 1-1-23 all appeals are going to go through an appointed board vs. how it is currently done. Screen shot of that email.  I did email again the other day after and I just received what I hope is a promising response-

Your appeal is in line for review.  You will be notified when the review is complete.  We appreciate your patience as we are experiencing a high volume of appeals which have extended review times.

 

 

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On 1/18/2023 at 3:09 PM, CFREUND01 said:

I did hear 8B15DAEB-72C4-4701-8F44-2FA547213002.thumb.jpeg.70ea10ccc52485f661578b67bfa5de34.jpegback last week. It was a generated response. As of 1-1-23 all appeals are going to go through an appointed board vs. how it is currently done. Screen shot of that email.  I did email again the other day after and I just received what I hope is a promising response-

Your appeal is in line for review.  You will be notified when the review is complete.  We appreciate your patience as we are experiencing a high volume of appeals which have extended review times.

 

 

I received the same email about my appeal being in line for review and I’ll be notified when completed. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad sign about them organizing a specific review board for FOID cards. I’m curious if that will prolong the appeal because they’re busy trying to sort out that division rather than actually working through appeal requests. 

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On 1/19/2023 at 8:49 PM, JTHunter said:

Has "Jabba" even appointed anybody to serve on the Board yet?  Last I heard, there were ZERO appointments.

I messaged with an aid to State Rep Blaine Wilhour. He on Monday did a little digging and contacted the ISP on my behalf. This is the response I received: 

“Hi Cory, I did get a response from ISP. They were relatively quiet about the switch to the new system and didn't have a particular timeframe for your case to share. I'll keep an eye out for the review board moving forward, and I'll let you know if they share any additional information regarding the timeframe that people can expect. Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you. -Trent”

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On 1/24/2023 at 1:33 PM, AlexK said:

Just received this today, I asked about any updates in my case in December. 
Also on ISP website it now states that appeals for more that 5 years won’t need to go to FCRB. 
My case is 5 or more years type and mental health cert was sent to ISP in October. 

52B6CC43-3E8C-4DDF-8F8B-C51BE2DCA80E.jpeg

My appeal which the ISP received all paperwork for on Sept 14,2022 is also due to a voluntary hospital stay more than 5 yrs, so it’s just north of a 4 month wait now for me. Just got off the phone w Dr Brenzinger, who did my mental health assessment back in September - he basically told me nothing has changed for people like myself as far as the appeal goes- it’s just a waiting game… 5,6,7 months? Who knows.  I am relieved that I don’t have to wait for a board that isn’t fully developed yet to make a decision. He also said a lawyer would be a waste of money in my case.  I’ve been worried the past couple weeks wondering if I needed to do more.  I guess I don’t, so I’m content. 

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I also saw that doctor for my evaluation.

What confuses me is that on ISP website it now says that mental health evaluations for 5 years or more cases don’t need to appeal to be the new board, but email I received mentioned the board.
 

https://www.isp.illinois.gov/FoidCardReviewBoard

 

  • If you were a patient in a Mental Health Facility more than five years ago, you do not need to appeal to the FCRB for relief. Rather, you will need to utilize the Illinois State Police, Office of Firearms Safety, Other Types of Firearms Rights Restorations Tab and select Mental Health Admission – more than five years ago.
Edited by AlexK
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On 1/25/2023 at 9:35 PM, AlexK said:

I also saw that doctor for my evaluation.

What confuses me is that on ISP website it now says that mental health evaluations for 5 years or more cases don’t need to appeal to be the new board, but email I received mentioned the board.
 

https://www.isp.illinois.gov/FoidCardReviewBoard

 

  • If you were a patient in a Mental Health Facility more than five years ago, you do not need to appeal to the FCRB for relief. Rather, you will need to utilize the Illinois State Police, Office of Firearms Safety, Other Types of Firearms Rights Restorations Tab and select Mental Health Admission – more than five years ago.

I also received that email. It’s just a generic email everyone got.  In the email it said certain appeals. Yes, very generic. After that email a few days later I received another email saying my appeal was in line for review. Another generic email everyone gets. I spoke with Dr. Brenzinger a good while this evening. He assured me as he said when he saw me that no one he had ever done an assessment for that had an appeal for a hospitalization over 5 years has ever been denied or he would have heard from them regarding a denial. Basically, we are in a waiting game. How long who knows, but ultimately our FOID rights will be restored. I have complete faith in what Dr. B is saying will be the outcome for both of us. Not knowing your exact situation I would go by what Dr. Brenzinger says. Heck, give him a call. He’s very receptive to answering follow up questions. Cory F. 

Edited by CFREUND01
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