The Illinois State Police is asking for a few tweaks in state law to help reduce the backlog of FOID and concealed carry cards to be processed.
State Police Director Brendan Kelly says there’s been a 167% increase in FOID card application over the past few years, overwhelming an already antiquated system. He’s looking for some common sense changes that will make the system more streamlined for the state, and the public.
“For example, consolidating FOID card and CCL card into a single card. You have a drivers license, your commercial driver’s license you have a CDL that allows you to drive a car and a big rig. You don’t need a separate card for that. Those things should be integrated into one, single card.”
Kelly also thinks the cards should be electronic, removing the need for a paper license.
“Like to have an electronic card. There is no reason we can’t move this to an electronic system instead of this paper card. You can get on a plane with an image on your phone. We should be able to make that a digital process so that the card is something you can verify digitally rather than this old fashioned paper document.”
State police have been under fire due to the backlog of FOID and concealed carry requests that have grown as a result of increased requests during the COVID-19 pandemic.
