Illinois Judge Rules Against FOID Card Requirement

Illinois Circuit Judge T. Scott Webb ruled against Illinois’ Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card requirement on Tuesday.

Webb’s ruling came in Illinois v. Vivian Claudine Brown, a case which centered on the claim that Brown possessed a firearm in her home for self-defense but did not possess a FOID card.

The case sprung from a March 28, 2017, call to the White County Sheriff’s Office, wherein Vivian Brown’s husband claimed a gun was fired in the home. Sheriff’s deputies responded to find a rifle by Brown’s bed, but no evidence the rifle had been fired.

Brown had no criminal record and was “eligible to be issued a FOID card” but did not possess a FOID card at the time the sheriff’s office responded.

The sheriff’s office filed a report on the incident and the State’s Attorney of White County, Illinois, charged Brown with possession of a firearm “without requisite [FOID] card.”

Brown filed suit in the Circuit Court of the Second Judicial Circuit, White County, Illinois, winning on constitutional grounds, only to have the case appealed to Illinois Supreme Court. The Illinois Supreme Court then sent the case back to the circuit court and on April 26, 2021, the circuit court again ruled against the FOID card requirement.

Judge Webb wrote:

Even though the Supreme Court left open the option of regulation to combat the dangers of gun violence in Heller, it is this court’s opinion that the FOID Card Act goes too far….This act makes criminals out of law-abiding citizens who are attempting to protect their lives within their homes.

Webb cited “fees” associated with the FOID Card, noting, “Any fee associated with exercising the core fundamental Constitutional right of armed self-defense within the confines of one’s home violates the Second Amendment.”

The State of Illinois now has the option to the appeal the circuit court decision back to the state supreme court.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.