The Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) has filed a suit accusing Illinois State Police with violating the rights of individuals to carry concealed firearms by taking too long to approve licenses.
Filed in federal court, the state’s top gun lobbying group charges —in some instances — individuals have been forced to wait as long as a year to gain approval.
“The delays are unacceptable and a lawsuit at this point seems to be the only way to get them stopped,” ISRA executive director Richard Pearson told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Illinois State Police officials have countered that the process for approving Concealed Carry Licenses “is a time-consuming and deliberate process” that includes much paperwork and background checks.
Applications for such licenses along with gun sales have soared since the pandemic hit, jumping to 343, 299 licenses issued by the end of last year compared to 90,301 in 2014.
According to the suit, the average time to receive a license has now jumped to 145 days, well past the 90-day requirement for issuing a response to a license request.
“There are a lot of people worried about their own defense,” Pearson added. “And they’ve gone through all the training, they’ve gone through numerous background checks and yet they can’t get their concealed carry card.”
Illinois State Police officials have declined to comment on the suit, but spokeswoman Mindy Carroll noted the agency has added 25 Firearms Eligibility Analysts over the last year to process applications and an additional seven staff members are slated to begin working this month.
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