The Second Amendment Foundation has scored another procedural win in Illinois. Under the state’s Department of Children and Family Services rules,
Prospective Illinois foster parents must either certify that there are no firearms in their home or complete a form called the Foster Family Firearms Arrangement. That document requires a list of all guns and ammunition in the home and locations where they are stored. Would-be foster parents also must certify the guns have trigger locks and are stored unloaded, separate from ammunition and in locked containers accessible only with a key kept off the premises or on the owner’s person.
But after a motion by the state to dismiss it, a judge has ruled that a lawsuit challenging the policy, Shults et al v. Sheldon, can go forward.
A federal district court judge in Illinois has denied that state’s motion to dismiss a legal challenge by the Second Amendment Foundation of its foster parenting rules that place restrictions on the possession of firearms for personal protection.
SAF filed the lawsuit last summer on behalf of Kenneth and Colleen Shults in U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois. Named as a defendant in the case is George H. Sheldon, in his official capacity as director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (IDCFS). SAF is joined by the Illinois State Rifle Association.
On Tuesday, District Judge Colin Stirling Bruce ruled that there are “sufficient factual allegations to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” The complaint alleges that the state has deprived Kenneth and Colleen Shults of their civil rights under color of law.
David Sigale is arguing the case for the Second Amendment Foundation and is the attorney who won the Second Amendment case in the the Northern Mariana Islands among other gun rights actions. In 2014, he was awarded the Gun Rights Defender of the Year by the Citizens’ Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, at the Gun Rights Policy Conference.
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