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SPRINGFIELD — Republican lawmakers are calling to abolish the state’s Firearm Owners Identification card requirement — or at least to install fixes to expedite the Illinois State Police’s handling of a backlog of applications that is leaving gun owners in a state of uncertainty.

“My office receives three to five calls almost every day now (with FOID delay concerns),” Rep. Charlie Meier, R-Okawville, said at a Capitol news conference Wednesday. “Wherever I go, I'm contacted by people that walk up to me, ‘I have a problem with my FOID card.’ You have to explain the process. And you tell them that, you know, you're not the only one that's two, three or four months behind. There's many more.”

Meier and some of his fellow Republican House members said their offices have been “inundated” by callers who have had issues with FOID. They said the delay in FOID card processing has left law abiding gun owners in the lurch as they await renewals, and two constituents who experienced delays shared their stories at the news conference Wednesday as well.

“You have several problems here,” said Rep. Michael Marron, R-Fithian. “The first thing is, is that you are taking law abiding citizens who are trying to exercise their constitutional right to bear arms, and you're creating a problem for them being compliant with the state law.”