Brown v. Illinois State Police

What the court held

The Illinois State Police revoked Thomas Brown's FOID card after a background check revealed a 2001 California misdemeanor domestic violence conviction, which also triggered the federal ban in 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9). The Illinois Supreme Court reversed the appellate court and reinstated the circuit court's judgment ordering the State Police to issue Brown a FOID card, holding that relief under section 10(c) of the FOID Card Act would not be contrary to federal law and that Brown had satisfied all four statutory requirements, including that he is not likely to act dangerously and that relief is not contrary to the public interest. Having granted relief on statutory grounds, the court did not reach Brown's constitutional claims.

Summarized from the court's opinion.

What this case is about

Illinois FOID card relief and its interaction with the federal firearm prohibition

GunMapUSA summary of the issue, not a quotation from the court.

Key Dates

• 2021-11-18 — Decided

Sources

• CourtListener — retrieved 2026-08-08