I want to thank those who sent emails regarding their delayed FOID cards, ICCLs and slow approvals for firearm purchases. I have forwarded them to our attorney. Here is some general advice on FOID cards and ICCLs. FOID cards should be renewed 60 days in advance although, right now, that still won’t get you your FOID on time but it is the best thing you can do right now. As long as the Illinois State Police website lists you as under review, you know it has been received and you won’t get a knock on your door. In the case of ICCL renewals, you must apply 90 days in advance. It is best if you have all of your training done and your renewal training certificate in your hand 120 days in advance. One problem I am seeing is people who move and don’t change their address on their Illinois Driver’s License or State ID. That takes about seven working days and can be done online. If you don’t do that before you renew and try to apply for either your FOID card of ICCL, you will get yourself in a bureaucratic mess of biblical proportions.

Some of the delays are attributed to the tremendous increase in firearm sales. The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) had a record 3,700,000 inquiries in March, the most ever of any month. In Illinois, between March 15 and April 1, there were 49,342, also the most ever. The national number is even more amazing when one considers that several states closed gun stores for a while. They would still be closed but thankfully the Second Amendment Foundation and its local partners filed suit against those governors and forced them to be opened. Now that we have many new gun owners who have gone through the excruciating process of obtaining a FOID card and buying a firearm, or are still in that process, we have more people who now know how gun control works against the law-abiding citizens. We should welcome these folks to the fight. We also should take them under our wing and help them learn about firearms.

Many of us have been considering getting a Real ID. The news is the Real ID requirements has been postponed for a year with the new date of October 2021. They have kicked the can down the road. If you do apply for a Real ID there are some headaches with your FOID card and ICCL. People of my generation most often only use their middle initial rather than their middle name. If you get a Real ID you must have your middle name on it. The problem comes with your FOID and/or ICCL. They have to be changed with adding your middle name. That could be a mess considering what is going in the world.
A person only needs a Real ID if they intend to fly, go to military bases or secure federal facilities. A passport solves the same problems and doesn’t require you to change your FOID and ICCL. The problem is the cost is probably $150 or more. Still, with the way things are at the state level, that might be the best idea. That is what I am going to do.

Bernie Sanders has officially dropped out of the race for the Democrat Presidential race - sort of. Sanders isn’t giving up any of his delegates and is staying on the ballot in states that have not yet held their primaries. What does that mean? I think it means that Sanders and the left-wing lunatic contingent are angling for influence on the party platform and some leadership positions in the Democrat Party. If the Democrat Convention starts to have problems, Sanders has a considerable block of votes, at least, on the first ballot. As Yogi Berra used to say, “It ain’t over till it’s over.”

We are watching helplessly as the great ones in power let all kinds of miscreants out of jail. We are told it is to protect them from the Coronavirus. The question is what about the rest of us? What about the spread of crime? What about the innocent people who will get raped, robbed, beaten and murdered? Don’t they count or is it only our precious criminals who matter?

The powers that be are the ones who let these predators out of jail. What will happen is that crime will go up over time. Then the same people who caused the problem will ask for more gun control and power to solve the firearm mess they themselves have created. I have a darker view than most about what is actually going on.

During the fall of the Roman Empire during the 3rd and 4th century, St. Augustine had a brilliant observation. We generally think of people who want power but it goes beyond power. St. Augustine called it libido dominandi or lust to dominate. We have seen the unmitigated disregard for civil rights, property rights and other rights. The Declarations of Emergency both at the state and local levels are prime examples, all using the siren call for health and safety as the lure. The power they seized had nothing to do with the Coronavirus and everything to do with unbridled control of the citizens, their civil rights and everything they own. We are seeing these control freaks at work at the national level also. People like Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and Adam Schiff all exhibit the lust for domination. These are dangerous times in more ways than one.

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