East Central Reporter

State Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Louisville) wants voters to know he means what he says when it comes to protecting their Second Amendment rights.

“I don’t just talk about my support,” he recently posted on Twitter. “I vote in favor of it and I exercise it.”

Now seeking the Republican nomination for governor, Bailey is hoping conservatives have come to see he is just as committed to fighting for all the other issues they view as critical.

“Darren led the charge against sweeping executive orders that shuttered Illinois businesses, collapsed the economy, and deprived hardworking Illinoisans of their livelihoods,” reads a page on his website. “A complete return to normalcy is a top priority for Darren. As Governor, he will work to fully reopen the economy and our schools, attract new business, and fuel job creation in Illinois.”

Bailey has also built his platform around what his site describes as a pro-life, fiscally responsible agenda that is committed to more government transparency.

On the Second Amendment front, he recently filed Senate Bill 1948, which seeks to eliminate the FOID (Firearm Owners Identification card) system. Over the year since the pandemic hit, card applicants have been forced to endure average waits of four months just to have their applications processed.

Bailey doesn’t see the point.

“FOID cards may have served a purpose in the days before comprehensive and often instant background checks were possible or feasible, but that’s not the case anymore,” he said of the cards that were originally put in place to help keep guns out of the hands of criminals by requiring applicants to submit to a background check.

“The state has been unable or unwilling to keep up with FOID card applications, turning the program into a major roadblock for law-abiding gun owners,” he said. “It’s time to void the FOID and restore people’s God-given constitutional rights.”

With the application process now also requiring a background check at the point of purchase, critics like Bailey also point to the duplication in the system.

“It’s unacceptable to me to think someone would have to wait four months to be able to defend themselves and take part in their constitutional rights, especially when the FOID system no longer serves a real purpose,” he said. “There is no point in requiring people to have had a background check already in place to get their FOID card, just to get another background check performed every time they purchase a gun.”

SB1948 is currently assigned to the Senate Executive Committee’s Firearms Subcommittee.