By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD – It’s not a new story, but it continues to worsen, say Illinois House Republicans: the backlog of processing applications for Firearm Owners’ ID cards and Concealed Carry permits.
State Rep. Mike Marron is (R-Fithian) was one of four representatives at an online news conference. “There’s a complete lack of seriousness of administering the program,” he said. “The majority (party) swept more than $28 million out of the fund that administers the program so we can point fingers somewhere else but that’s counterproductive.”
Marron said fees from the applications should go toward processing them, not to be raided for other purposes.
Lawmakers want to streamline – if not eliminate – the process.
“Illinois is one of four states that still requires the FOID card,” said State Rep. Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis). “At the beginning of 2019, i introduced a bill that would repeal ils FOID card requirement. My preference would be for the state of Illinois to join those other 46 states in removing the requirement of the FOID card.”
Following the news conference, a spokeswoman for State Sen. Julie Morrison (D-Deerfield) sent a news release about Morrison’s “Fix the FOID” bill. And State Police were ready with their own statement about skyrocketing demand and the difficulty of staffing up.
Dave Dahl can be reached at News@WJBC.com.
