Illinois 2022 Gun Law Changes

Last updated on October 9th, 2023

UPDATE! Check out the 2023 Edition to the Illinois Gun Law Changes

With the passage of the FOID Modernization Act, as well as at least one court ruling, there will be some changes to the gun laws in Illinois in 2022 and beyond. This article will compile those changes so that as you tiptoe through the mine-field of being a lawful gun owner, you don’t accidentally run afoul of the Illinois gun laws. Most of these changes go into effect on the 1st of January 2022, unless otherwise noted.

OH! and before we proceed, I feel compelled to remind you that this is not to be considered legal advice. And remember you can be arrested for any reason, even if you aren’t breaking the law.

Perhaps the most widely discussed change to the Illinois gun laws is the fact that Illinois shall now be consolidating the Firearm Owner Identification (FOID) card and the Concealed Carry License (CCL) into one piece of identification.

Image of the New 2022 Firearm Owner Identification Card

The new state of Illinois Firearm Owner Identification card will take place of the previous FOID card and Concealed Carry License.

The new FOID will not have an expiration date. It is important to understand that both the FOID and CCL will still expire, but these expiration dates won’t be shown on the new license.

If you are licensed to carry a concealed firearm in Illinois, that will be indicated in the upper right-hand corner of the license.

   

Continuing with the changes to the actual card. Because the new cards will no longer have dates, a new procedure has been added for the sale of ammunition. This procedure is nearly identical to the current person-to-person verification. Ammunition sellers will be required to log onto the ISP website, input the FOID number, and verify that the FOID is still valid before selling ammunition. This applies only to FOID cards without expiration dates.

The Illinois State Police (ISP) have stated eventually everyone will receive a replacement FOID card. The ISP shall begin issuing the new style cards on January 1st, 2022. In a webinar, a representative from the ISP stated that by the end of 2022 all persons with FOID cards will receive the new card. However, that statement may not have been well thought out. In later press releases that ambitious statement was rolled back to “you’ll receive the new card when your old card expires”. With 2.5 million registered gun owners in Illinois, that would be roughly 11,000 replacement cards issued per business day. Not a very realistic goal for a department that is perpetually bogged down with delays.

More Illinois 2022 Gun Law Changes

But Wait. There’s More! On November 2nd I sent out a newsletter informing our students of additional changes to the gun laws. If you’d like to check out the November 2nd Newsletter, do it here. And while you’re there, please do be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date on all the changes to the law. Let’s take a moment to recap some of the points I made in the newsletter.

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Changes to the Wildlife Act now allow Licensed hunters to carry a concealed firearm while hunting. This assumes the hunter is also licensed to carry concealed. See the Illinois Wildlife Code Compiled Statute.

We should be seeing a stolen gun database in the very near future. This database will be publicly accessible allowing gun buyers to see if the firearm they are attempting to buy has been reported stolen. This post shall be edited with more details as they become available.

It appears the Illinois State Police shall no longer revoke concealed carry licenses if you forget to renew your FOID card, while your concealed carry license is active.

We may be seeing a means of utilizing electronic FOID cards in case you forget your physical card at home. This electronic system is something the FOID Modernization Act makes an option. As of now, we haven’t seen any attempt by the state police to enact any sort of electronic cards. This article shall be updated with more details when they become available.

The Illinois State Police is attempting to move away from paper notifications sent via USPS. The ISP is now allowing registered gun owners to opt into electronic notifications via email and or text messages. To opt-in, you would want to log into your portal at www.ispfsb.com

   

Changes to the Illinois Gun Laws Behind The Scenes

Many of the changes triggered by the FOID Modernization Act are behind-the-scenes changes and don’t affect Illinois Gun Owners on the surface. However, these changes could have an effect if you get caught up in the legal system for any reason.

More funding and new task forces have been established for the Illinois State Police. This better allows the ISP to work in conjunction with local law enforcement for purposes of revocations and confiscations of firearms for people whose FOID or Concealed Carry License has been revoked.

One would lose their firearm freedoms for protective orders in Illinois, which is a violation of due process. But I digress. The “Protective order” definition has been broadened now defined to be all-encompassing and includes multiple laws already on the books. If the protective order is expected to be less than 1-year in duration, the FOID and/or concealed carry licenses may be suspended instead of revoked.

The Illinois State Police may now cancel a FOID card or Concealed Carry License in lieu of revocation. The reason why they might cancel a card would be, for example, if the registered gun owner moves out of state. This is expected to dramatically reduce the number of revocations.

There shall be changes to the appeals process if your FOID card is revoked or denied. This change allows the aggrieved party to seek relief. All of the appeals documents can be found on one of the state police websites (yes, they again have more than one website). See Appeals Documents

Future Changes to Illinois Gun Laws

There was a federal court decision on the Solomon case regarding the prohibition to carry in the Cook County Forest Preserves. As expected the judge ruled in the favor of Illinois gun owners and declared this prohibition unconstitutional. However, unexpectedly, the Judge also gave a 6-month stay of enforcement, which allowed the unconstitutional ban to remain on the books until March 15th, 2022. The reason given was, “to provide the General Assembly an opportunity to act definitively on this matter if it chooses to do so”.

We’ve already seen one bill filed as of the time of this writing which is even worse than the previous prohibition. I expect to see more bills filed in a desperate measure to keep the unconstitutional ban on the books through any means necessary. I am urging people to not carry in the Cook County forest preserves until the dust settles on this. I am also urging gun owners to sign up for the newsletter or follow Alpha Koncepts on social media to stay up to date on all the changes to the Illinois Gun laws. In addition, I am also urging gun owners to get active and get vocal, and express their outrage to your elected officials at this attempted unconstitutional ban.

A final note about the ban on carrying a concealed firearm in Cook County Forest Preserves; this ban doesn’t currently apply to any other Illinois county. Only Cook.

Fingerprints have always been optional for concealed carry, however, fingerprints shall now be optional for FOID cards as well. If you provide fingerprints there shall be an automatic renewal of FOID cards by January 1st, 2023. We don’t yet have all the details on this automatic renewal but know two things. First, you’ll need to provide fingerprints, and second, the renewal will only be triggered by purchasing a firearm. I’ll keep you updated as we get more information about this.

January 1st, 2023 we should see a FOID review board, similar to the CCL review board.

Say goodbye to private sales of firearms in 2024. As part of the passage of the FOID modernization act, Universal Background checks were included in this horrible compromise bill. All sales starting in 2024, will be required to facilitate a gun dealer as a middle-man. Again, this doesn’t take effect until 2024, and we will see the details of this change as we get closer to the date.

Closing changes to the Illinois Gun laws in 2022

Remember, it is your responsibility to stay up to date on the changes to the laws. And the laws do change frequently. If you have any questions, you certainly can contact us or ask your criminal defense attorney.

P.S. Don’t forget to renew your concealed carry license. We are running renewal classes every month at our new training facility in Park Ridge.

   

15 thoughts on “Illinois 2022 Gun Law Changes”

      1. You mentioned the indicator on the new FOID, upper right, was a CCL reference? What is the new alpha numeric number on the top middle of the card for? Thanks!

  1. Is there a limit to how many rounds I can have in my KSG 12 gauge shot gun in Illinois if I am not hunting just shooting for sport or home protection?

    1. Indicator N means it is a FOID card ONLY and is NOT a Concealed Carry License. Don’t carry if the indicator says N. Contact the state police for a proper concealed carry license.

  2. I have a friend whose husband died. He owned several firearms. The wife doesn’t have a FOID card. She doesn’t want the guns. How does she legally sell them to a person with a FOID card?

    1. She should take them to a gun store. There is a FOID exemption for inheritance.

      Hopefully she never needs them. Tell her to keep one and use the money she gets from the others to get some training with the one she keeps.

  3. All of this is against our 2nd amendment. Our democratic government. Wants to take away all of our weapons. Then we all become sheeple slaves to theirs

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