The New Civil Liberties Alliance filed a federal lawsuit challenging Illinois’ FOID card law under the Second and Fourteenth Amendments.
A civil liberties group has sued Illinois officials in federal court, challenging the state’s Firearm Owners Identification Card Act as an unconstitutional requirement that residents obtain government permission before possessing firearms or ammunition.
The New Civil Liberties Alliance filed the lawsuit Tuesday against Illinois State Police Director Brendan F. Kelly, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke, according to a complaint obtained by Fox News Digital. The group is seeking injunctive relief for three plaintiffs and argues the law violates the Second Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.
Illinois’ FOID law requires residents to apply for and carry an identification card to legally possess a firearm or ammunition. The lawsuit argues that the system blocks people from exercising what NCLA says is a core constitutional right unless they first receive approval from the state.
Two plaintiffs, Christopher Laurent and Kim Dalton, want firearms for self-defense but have not obtained them because they object to the state’s process and do not want to risk prosecution, according to the complaint. A third plaintiff, Justin Tucker, already has a FOID card but objects to renewing it and to the requirement that he carry it to preserve his ability to possess firearms in Illinois.
Jacob Huebert, NCLA’s senior litigation counsel and lead attorney in the case, framed the challenge as a dispute over whether the state may require residents to prove eligibility before exercising a constitutional right. “The police can approach you and demand you ‘show your papers’ to prove you're allowed to exercise this right, otherwise, you are committing a crime,” Huebert told Fox News Digital.
Huebert also argued that the application process can delay people who say they need a firearm urgently for home defense, and that Illinois places the burden on residents to prove they are entitled to possess a gun, including during appeals if an application is denied.
The FOID Act dates to 1967 and has faced constitutional challenges before. In 2020, an Illinois state trial court ruled the law unconstitutional in People v. Vivian Brown, but trial-court rulings apply only to the parties in that case and do not set statewide precedent.
By bringing the case in federal district court in Chicago, NCLA is seeking a broader ruling that could prevent Illinois officials from enforcing the law. Fox News Digital reported that it contacted the Illinois State Police, the attorney general’s office and the Cook County state’s attorney’s office for comment on the lawsuit.
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