03/28/2024

VOID The FOID and Support The Second Amendment



By DARREN BAILEY
Candidate for
Illinois Governor

Since swearing in as a Senator in January, my office has handled more than 300 cases for constituents having issues with their FOID and CCL (Concealed Carry License) cards. Unfortunately, some instances have law-abiding gun owners left empty-handed for more than 18 months due to ‘COVID-19.’

Because of a complete failure led by JB Pritzker, the state of Illinois is illegally forcing citizens to wait on a card that is unconstitutional while depriving them of their God-given constitutional right to defend themselves and their families.

Time and time again, we have legislators in Springfield who do not have a FOID card and have zero personal experience with the process of obtaining or using a FOID card or a gun, sponsoring these terrible anti-gun proposals. And anti-gun legislation gets more and more ridiculous each year.

Sadly, I’m not surprised they don’t care people are waiting more than a year for permission to exercise their God-given constitutional rights. I’m not surprised some anti-gun legislators want to quadruple the cost for honest gun owners, add more bureaucracy, and mandate fingerprints for honest Illinoisans to exercise their Second Amendment right.

FOID cards serve no purpose except to tax and add undue burdens on honest Illinoisans wanting to exercise their constitutional rights. It’s now time to reform this broken and outdated process; it’s time to eliminate it. As I’ve said many times, VOID THE FOID and let honest people protect themselves and their families.

With a driver’s license or a state ID, you can perform a background check at the point of sale, which is what they currently do with a FOID card. Nearly every state does it this way, but Springfield Democrats continue to make laws that affect law-abiding Illinoisans who follow laws to stop criminals who do not follow laws.

Whether it’s a family practicing home defense or hunting, or a single mother trying to protect herself and her kids, I have and will continue to defend their rights. And I WILL NOT add undue burdens on them to protect their loved ones.

Some commonsense points I’ve made in the General Assembly regarding the Second Amendment:

1. The Second Amendment is clear and “shall not be infringed,” precisely what liberal Democrats keep trying to do with their radical policies.

2. The FOID card is outdated, unnecessary, and needs to be eliminated.

3. If we are trying to stop crime, we don’t do it by making it harder for honest people to protect themselves from crime. And we don’t do it by handcuffing and defunding our law enforcement (another thing Springfield gets wrong).

I am running for Governor to support and stand up for the constitution, the Second Amendment, and the rights of hardworking Illinoisans and taxpayers. However, I have learned we need more people in Springfield, top to bottom, who understand the implications of bad policies and have the backbone to stand up to the pressure and do what is right.