FOID and Concealed Carry Notice

A press release has been received by our office today, December 29th, 2019 in regards to this issue. We are leaving the original message at the end of this, however, we are updating with the current statement as well.

Sheriff Addresses FOID Issues

Hello citizens of Jasper County this is Sheriff Brandon Francis. I would like to address the recent Facebook Post and rumors about the Sheriff’s Office going to a house to pick up an individual’s guns for an expired FOID. I would like to start off by advising everyone that since I have been Sheriff, the Sheriff’s Office has never taken a firearm from any individual for a Concealed Carry or FOID expiration., suspension, or revocation. My Deputies and I are not coming to your residence for your firearms. I released an article in the June 3rd, 2019 edition of the Jasper County News Eagle. This article explains the letter that the Sheriff’s Office receives from the Illinois State Firearms Service Bureau. The article goes on to explain what the Sheriff’s Office does once we receive this letter. I wrote this letter to warn people of what I felt were non-valid reasons of FOID revocations. As I state in the letter the Sheriff’s Office has nothing to do with the Illinois State Police Firearms Bureau. I do not agree with many of these revocations and suspensions. When we collect the Non VALID FOID it is sent to the Illinois State Police Firearms Bureau along with the Firearm Disposition which lists the firearms and who the firearms were transferred to. These items must be received by the Illinois State Police Firearms Bureau before the will consider reinstating the FOID. We will assist people in filling out these forms if they want help and we will mail them off for the individual. On occasions where it was not clear why the FOID was revoked I have done some digging and found out for the individual why the State revoked the FOID or Concealed Carry. I have also mailed letters into the Illinois State Police Firearms Bureau explaining why I felt certain revocations were not valid and in some cases provided court documents to prove this.

The question I have seen several times is why does the Sheriff’s Office get involved in these matters? Now that I have explained what the Sheriff’s Office does let me explain what takes place if the Sheriff’s Office chooses to not get involved. Members of the Illinois State Police are given the task of making sure that everyone that does not have a valid FOID is complaint with State Law. If the individual chooses not to surrender the FOID to local Law Enforcement and not complete the Firearms disposition then the State Police are aware that they have not received these documents. In the past, Members from the Illinois State Police have come to the Sheriff’s Office. They have a list of the people that live in the county that have had FOID revocations. They then compare their list with the list of people that we have collected the Non-valid FOID and Firearm Disposition forms from. If the people have surrendered their FOID and completed a firearm disposition then everything is fine with them. If they find that people have not surrendered their FOID or completed a Firearm Disposition they they may go visit the individual. The Sheriff’s Office does NOT accompany the State Police when they visit homes for this reason. In some cases, firearms are taken from the individual. This is one reason why the Sheriff’s Office attempts to visit homes and collect these documents to help with the dispositions. We look to give the individual every possible option and help get the FOID issues resolved if we can. This way they can avoid the State Police knocking on their door and they can have a spouse, family member, or trusted friend keep the firearms until the FOID issues are resolved.

I would like to state again that the Sheriff’s Office has never taken any firearms from individuals for the reasons listed above and we have no intentions of doing so,. I am a hunter and I am pro 2nd amendment. I have helped teach concealed carry classes and I have donated firearms to be raffled off for community events. I have also been a sponsor of the Newton High School Trap Team. I believe that our law abiding citizens should bear arms if they choose to do so, and that our community is safer because of it. Like many of you I do not agree with the FOID. Unfortunately, we live in a state that requires a FOID. These are some of the reasons that I chose to write an article back in June addressing these issues. I am a firearm owner, and I will work with other firearm owners to help protect our 2nd amendment rights. I will attach the article I wrote in June. Please contact me at the Sheriff’s Office if you have any further questions regarding these issues. Please remember that if a Deputy or I come to your house we are trying to help you with your FOID issues despite what the letter you received from the State might say. I apologize for any confusion on this matter.

Respectfully,

Sheriff Brandon Francis

PREVIOUS INFORMATION BELOW

Dear citizens of Jasper County. I would like to inform you that the Sheriff’s Office is seeing an increase in the number of FOID and Concealed Carry revocations from the Illinois State Police Firearms Service Bureau. The Illinois State Police Firearms Service Bureau will send the individual a notice that their FOID and Concealed Carry (if applicable) has been revoked. The notice also states that the individual is required to surrender their FOID to the local law enforcement agency within 48 hours. The Sheriff’s Office also receives a letter stating the same information as the individual receives. The individual is then required to turn their revoked FOID card over to the local law enforcement agency. The Illinois State Police also require a Firearm disposition record to be completed. This requires the individual with the revoked FOID to transfer possession of their firearms to an individual with a valid FOID. Although the Sheriff’s Office has nothing to do with the FOID revocation we do collect the revoked FOID cards and mail them into the Illinois State Police Firearms Services Bureau along with the Firearm disposition record. These items must be received by the Illinois State Police before they will consider reinstating the FOID. Some of these revocations are for valid reasons, however I found that some of the reasons given are not valid reasons. I do not agree with many of these revocations. I have written letters to the Illinois State Police Firearms Services Bureau explaining why some of these revocations are not valid and have provided documents to prove this. It is not the Sheriff’s Office’s intentions or objective to take citizens firearms. The Sheriff’s Office rarely seize firearms because most often people have someone to transfer them to. If you have a FOID and Concealed Carry please be aware that if the FOID expires the Illinois State Police Firearms Services Bureau is revoking the FOID card and the concealed carry card. Make sure to complete your FOID renewal application no sooner than 60 days prior to the expiration date, but before the expiration date. The Sheriff’s Office takes every effort to assist individuals that receive these letters. We will deal with these issues on a case by case basis. Please feel free to contact me at the Sheriff’s Office if you have any questions or concerns.

Sheriff  Brandon Francis.