(The Center Square) – Whether Illinois’ Firearm Owner’s ID card is constitutional is now up to a state appellate court.
Illinois is one of only a handful of states that requires individuals to have a specific permit or ID to purchase firearms and one of only two states that requires one to possess firearms or ammunition.
Guns Save Life brought the case against the state, saying the law violates the Second Amendment. The Sangamon County court sided with the state.
A three-judge panel of the Illinois Fourth District Appellate Court heard the case Thursday.
Plaintiffs argued the law violates the plain text of the Second Amendment and the only comparable historical laws the state has are defunct loyalty oath laws and race-based prohibitions on specific firearms.
“Just like you wouldn’t require a license to pray at home or post an unpopular opinion on X,” said Guns Save Life attorney Clark Hildabrand.
The state argued they have the power to impose low barrier regulations to ensure dangerous individuals don’t access firearms.
“Government can regulate to seek to keep firearms out of the hands of people who are dangerous and therefore likely to misuse them,” said attorney Jane Elinor Notz representing Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly. “That applies to public carry and at home protection.”
Judge Craig DeArmond pushed back on Notz, saying recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent dealt with allowing some regulations for public carry, not for keeping firearms in the home. DeArmond and Notz went back and forth on a variety of issues.
“I know your doing your best to not answer the question, but it’ll go faster if you do,” DeArmond said when questioning Notz on the state’s position.
Plaintiffs rebutted the state, saying FOID impacts everyone, not someone a court found to be a prohibited person.
“Illinois has the firearm restraining order law that would operate more similarly, but here the FOID law applies generally to all law abiding citizens, those who are impacted by the law,” Hildabrand said. “Other prohibitions already impact felons.”
Guns Save Life Executive Director John Boch, who brought the case, feels they got a favorable panel of justices.
“Judge DeArmond that savaged representative from [Attorney General] Kwame Raoul’s office, just saveged her with her talking points and just outright calling her incorrect in some of her assertions,” Boch told The Center Square after Thursday’s hearing. “I’ve never seen an oral argument get that testy and rough for either side’s counsel.”
Boch said it’s simple. The court must weigh the law against the plain text of the second amendment and whether there are any historical comparison laws to the FOID card for whether it can withstand scrutiny.
“Clearly there’s no historical precedent whatsoever for something like this in the colonial times,” Boch said.
The appeals court took the case under advisement. Boch said regardless of how the case goes, it’s expected to go to the Illinois Supreme Court, and then possibly to the U.S. Supreme Court.