“Rights delayed are Rights denied."

Please do not mistake my post for complaining about delays.  There is a clear disregard for and violation of the Law in my case, by the Review Board for CCL in Illinois.

I have been “Under Board Review” for at least 34 days and ISP indicates today they have heard nothing so cannot send a letter, effectively acknowledging that the Review Board has overextended their period for review.

This is in violation of the Act as it stands, which is Law.

I am an ISRA Member and NRA Member.  I have never been arrested. I am from Bloomington – which I understand has a plethora of objections.  I also have an address in Cook County. Lucky me, right?  I am worried with potential Board reaction to the recent emergency rules and spotlight on the Board coming just before the end of my review period.

The already illegitimate Board has evidently violated the Act, taking more than 30 days without providing me or ISP any feedback on my Board Review.  Further, with emergency rules going in at the end of my 30 day Board Review period, and political and public scrutiny, I fear for my “fair” judgment in this still secret court.

“The Board shall issue a decision within 30 days of receipt of the objection from the Department. However, the Board need not issue a decision within 30 days if:
(1) the Board requests information from the
applicant, including but not limited to electronic fingerprints to be submitted to the Department, in accordance with subsection (e) of this Section, in which case the Board shall make a decision within 30 days of receipt of the required information from the applicant;
(2) the applicant agrees, in writing, to allow the
Board additional time to consider an objection; or
(3) the Board notifies the applicant and the
Department that the Board needs an additional 30 days to issue a decision.”


Here is a schedule of events:
May 11, 2014: I complete a  valid application via ccl4illinois.com
June 14: I receive a letter dated June 13 indicating the Objection has been forwarded to the Board following the Objection Period.
June 14: I send the ISP an email offering testimony, documentation, etc. around whatever it is I am being judged for.  My application status is “Under Board Review”. Please see Item A in following post.
July 10: Arguably Illegal Emergency rules go into effect for the Board.  This is 3 days away from the end of their review period for me.
July 13-14: No changes to status.  I am owed a decision, news of their having requested 30 days extra, or a request for more info.
July 16: I send Item B to ISP via email.  My status and “span” html class tag on both pages still indicate Under Board Review.  Please see Item B in following post.  No response received. I also submit a similar inquiry on the ISP website web form.  Please see Item C in following post.
July 17: I receive a response to Item C, stating that the ISP have not received any status from the Board whatsoever.  They only have the information that my “You are now under Board Review” postal mail went out June 13.  They indicate that sometimes there is a delay in mailing the extension letter or denial, BUT in this case they don’t even have information from the Board.  Please see response to Item C in following post.

I have cannot possibly afford an Attorney.   I fear I am at least lined up for double jeopardy in case I was already approved.  The thirty days are up.  I fear political interests and the Board attempting to redeem itself as well as serve political interests will affect whatever judgments have or have not been made.  I am owed by the already questionable Act, as it stands, an explanation.  Yet on repeated attempts at contact I receive none.  The Board is not accountable to ISP, nor to any other entity.  Least of all the citizens of the State.

I truly wish I had the means for legal representation.

Item A – June 14 Email to ISP (One day after ‘Under Board Review’ status)
Hello,

This email is merely informational, and I do not request action or information but only wish to express my eagerness to provide whatever I am able if called upon for the review process.
My name is <Name Deleted from Forum Post>.  I have applied for a license with Application #<Deleted from Forum Post>.

My application status has recently changed from 'Under Review' to 'Under Board Review'.

Please note that I am eager to cooperate proactively, to the fullest extent possible in contributing testimony, history, or anything else of use to the Board.  
Though I know the ISP and Board must be overburdened, I hope to communicate my commitment to cooperating, understanding, and proactively offering all I am able for the Board, law enforcement, and the ISP.  
I know that I shall wait unless called upon.

I am extremely confident in my suitability and training and commitment to safety and full abidance with the Law.
I am extremely conscious of legal, safety, and conscientiousness considerations around the privilege I apply for.
In short, I am not requesting action of any sort, but only wish to communicate that I am fully eager to provide whatever I can that is of use.  I will, of course, hold my thoughts unless called upon.

Thank you and your colleagues for your hard work, and for the challenging inquiries and workload you surely face.

Item B -  July 16 email
Please assist me with the following:

My name is <Name Deleted from Forum Post>.  I have applied for a license with Application #<Deleted from Forum Post>.

In mid June, I received a letter dated June 13 indicating that during the 30 day objections period, which had at that time passed, the Department had received an objection to my eligibility for a CCL.  It is now July 17, <correction – 16> 2014 and I have not received additional information.  According to the constraints for the Board described in the Act below, I would have expected either a decision, a request for 30 additional days for Board Review, or request for additional information.

I have received none of the above as of receipt of Postal Mail today, July 16, 2014 - more than 30 days after notification of the objection and closing of the objections period.  May I ask for a contact or update for this information?  

Thank you,

<Name and email deleted from Forum Post>
The Board shall issue a decision within 30 days of receipt of the objection from the Department. However, the Board need not issue a decision within 30 days if:
(1) the Board requests information from the
applicant, including but not limited to electronic fingerprints to be submitted to the Department, in accordance with subsection (e) of this Section, in which case the Board shall make a decision within 30 days of receipt of the required information from the applicant;
(2) the applicant agrees, in writing, to allow the
Board additional time to consider an objection; or
(3) the Board notifies the applicant and the
Department that the Board needs an additional 30 days to issue a decision.


Item C – July 16 Web form Submission and July 17 Response
TOPIC - QUESTION
Other Inquiry -
I received a USPS physical letter on June 14, whose letterhead was dated
June 13, 2014. This letter stated that my application had after 30 days
received a LE objection and the Board of Review had been notified. It also
stated that, per the Act, the Board would issue a decision within 30 days,
or else request 30 additional days as long as they contact me and ISP, or
else request information from me, etc. I expected contact along the above
lines by now - over 30 days since the application was received by the
Board. I have not heard by email, phone, Postal Mail, or any other means
as of the evening of 7/16/2014. Please let me know what the status and
expectations I can hold for my application are. Thank you for your time
and hard work

RESPONSE:
Unfortunately we don't have any additional information at this point.
There have been times when either the answer or the extension letter were
delayed, but at this point the last bit of information we have is just
about the letter you have already received.  To make things more
complicated, the review board does not report to us, so we have no way of
speeding things up, or finding out causes of delays.
Respectfully,
Illinois State Police
Firearms Services Bureau
Concealed Carry Unit

Yeah I would get on Illinois Carry, and bring your experience to the attention of the IC folks.  The IL NRA rep is also active on that forum.

Thank you both.  I emailed Todd and am pending permissions to post on IC.

I appreciate the support.

Contact the State Representative in your district and request assistance with resolving your issue.

Yeah Bloomington... I had an interesting conversation with a Bloomington cop (pro gun) and he said they were panicked about the whole thing and were running down every piece of information on everyone that applied that they could so as to deny as many as possible.

Wouldn't have expected that from a relatively conservative central IL community.

Thank you all for the feedback and support.  I'm following your suggestions and following up with anyone I can reach.  

Right now they're in a transition to new "Emergency Administrative Rules" for the Review Board that were in effect as of July 10.
Unfortunately, no response yet on my review.  I'm most concerned with how I could possibly not face a double standard given their timing.

I'd heard the same about Bloomington.  I understand the reasoning but I wish they had taken a closer look at the implications.  Rejected applicant info is retained by the office of the Governor.  The Board has proved itself less than credible.  Its reviews are clearly lacking guidance and common sense, not to mention due process.

More than one applicant with mistaken identity have been denied a Supreme Court mandate and Constitutional right.  You'd think with a FOID#, DOB, additional ID#, Name, residence, and access to every database they have they would not be so reckless with the Bill of Rights.

It's a serious act to submit an objection.  Hopefully between the Board, the LE agencies in the state, and the judicial system facing so many appeals this will be sorted out for the best.

I try to be optimistic but I just doubt that will happen.

We don't know that the Board considers any of those things or consults any database.  Outward appearances seem to suggest that those hold little weight.

They appear to simply consider the case put forward by the objecting LE agency and determine if it's credible or not.  I would posit that they simply presume that the LE agency is forthcoming, truthful and accurate.  If you have an agency looking for anything they can scrape up and throw against the wall, and then a review board which doesn't perform any "reality checking" of what is presented to them, you'll get some decisions which are ridiculous as we have seen.