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ISP releases court decision preventing disclosure of firearm owners
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[December 09, 2011]
SPRINGFIELD -- Illinois State
Police officials announced Thursday that based on a Peoria County
Circuit Court ruling, they are not required to release the names and
addresses of individuals who possess Firearm Owner Identification
cards. The court also found that the release of names is exempt from
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, which permanently
bars the Illinois State Police from revealing the identities of the
state's firearm owners.
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 In September of 2010, the Illinois State Police received a FOIA
request seeking the name of each person with a FOID card in the
ISP's FOID database and the dates of issuance and expiration of the
cards. The Illinois State Police argued that the request posed an
unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. The agency was sued, and
after months of citing exemptions of endangerment to the lives and
safety of law enforcement officers and citizens, a permanent
injunction was entered.
Former Gov. James R. Thompson and Matthew R. Carter of Winston &
Strawn LLP argued on ISP's behalf that concerns for public safety
are not speculative, and they provided the court with several
examples of recent murders in which the victims, one a Chicago
police officer, were murdered for guns.
"The Illinois State Police has a duty to protect the citizens of
Illinois, and to ensure that they are not unnecessarily placed at
risk," said Illinois State Police Director Hiram Grau. "At the same
time, we must constantly balance the dissemination of public
information against the privacy rights of individuals when
responding to Freedom of Information Act requests, in determining
whether the information should, in fact, be made available to the
public," he stressed.
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The Illinois State Police has made every effort to provide
statistical data, while balancing the Freedom of Information Act
process with the unwarranted invasion of personal privacy throughout
the legal proceedings. The agency acted accordingly under the law,
citing private information and an unwarranted invasion of privacy
for those in possession of a FOID card.
[Text from file received from the
Illinois State Police]
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