CARMI - Requiring Illinois citizens to obtain firearm cards for guns they keep in their homes violates the U.S. Constitution, Circuit Judge Scott Webb ruled on Feb. 10.
“Does the Second Amendment provide that otherwise law abiding citizens become criminals because they desire to feel safe and secure within the confines of their home?” Webb asked.
“May it never be.”
Webb found the $10 fee for a card or any fee associated with exercising the fundamental right of armed self defense within the home unconstitutional too.
He found paying a fee for voting absentee at home would be unthinkable.
He rejected the state’s claim that he had to follow People v. Gunn, a decision appellate judges in Chicago reached in 2023.
“Gunn’s analysis goes something like this: Since the Supreme Court has held that background checks are constitutional and because background checks are the cornerstone of the FOID Card Act, then the FOID Card Act must be constitutional," he wrote.
“Quite frankly, following the Gunn decision would be tantamount to judicial incompetence on the part of this court.”
The case in Webb’s court, People v. Vivian Brown, started in 2017.
Her husband Scott Brown called the White County sheriff’s office and said she shot a gun.
Deputies found a rifle by a bed but found no evidence that anyone fired it in the home.
Vivian denied firing a gun and others in the home said they heard no shot.
Former state’s attorney Denton Aud filed criminal information that Vivian possessed a firearm without a card, a misdemeanor carrying a sentence up to a year and a fine up to $2,500.
Webb found the criminal information is pending and undetermined.
“If there exists a place in this life where a person should feel safe and protected, it is within the confines of one’s home," he wrote.
He rejected the state’s claim that Vivian was not law abiding and thus fell outside the protections of the Second Amendment.
“This would open the floodgates for the government to pass the most restrictive gun laws while severely limiting the number of people who could challenge them," he wrote.
“This court has determined that the defendant is a responsible law abiding citizen deserving of the protections guaranteed under the Second Amendment.
“Unfortunately and to the utter dismay of this court, the actual reality is that all citizens of the state of Illinois are presumed dangerous and the burden is on the applicant to prove otherwise.”
He found the legislature recognized a higher need for self defense inside a dwelling by setting forth a different standard for proper use of force.
“People are treated differently inside of their homes because their homes are sanctuaries and the dangers posed to the public at large are nominal," he wrote.