A statewide requirement in Illinois for guns violates residents’ constitutional right to keep firearms in their homes, according to a new ruling.
“After analyzing all the evidence in this matter, this Court finds that the Defendant’s activity of possessing a firearm within the confines of her home is an act protected by the Second Amendment,” White County Resident Circuit Judge T. Scott Webb wrote in the Feb. 10 decision.
The state’s Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) Act mandates residents have a FOID card to legally possess guns or ammunition.
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Vivian Claudine Brown, a state resident, was charged by prosecutors with possessing a rifle despite not having a FOID card. She filed a motion to find the law unconstitutional.
The U.S. Supreme Court has determined that the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment protects the right to bear arms and the right to self-defense.
Justices said in a 2022 ruling known as Bruen—which struck down a New York state law—that when restricting gun ownership, officials must show that the regulation in question is “consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”
Webb said there are no historical analogs for the FOID Act, leading to his conclusion that it violates the Constitution.
