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Illinois Passes New Gun Ownership Law

Illinois State Police

A new law meant to clean up confusion about who is eligible to buy a gun in the state goes into effect in January.

The new law is meant to ensure that FOID cards are taken away from residents who have lost their firearm licenses because there is an order of protection against them.

The state police sometimes put a stamp on cards instead of taking them away. Representative Kelly Cassidy, a Democrat from Chicago, said this caused confusion for retailers.

"We had folks who had FOID cards with red stamps on them that said, 'Not entitled to possess the gun'. Gun shop owners didn't even know what to do with it," said Cassidy. "It was a mess."

Cassidy said the law will help the state police let local law enforcement officials know when someone has lost FOID card privileges. 

"We just don't have the fast power at the state police level to go get the guns. This creates a mechanism by which the state police can notify local law enforcement. The local law enforcement is now authorized to go get the guns when someone becomes ineligible," said Cassidy. 

The legislation passed with broad bipartisan support and no opposition from the National Rifle Association.

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