Juvenile and domestic relations district court; preliminary hearing, violent juvenile felony.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Dave Marsden

Lower the FOID application age from 21 to 18 (with exceptions), allowing 18–20-year-olds to apply without parental consent under the Illinois FOID Act.

Passed by indefinitely in Courts of Justice (9-Y 6-N)

Summary — SB 1334 (Illinois) — "Firearm Owners Identification Card Act: minimum age change to 18"

Status (introductory)
- Introduced in the Illinois Senate by Sen. Dale Fowler on January 28, 2025. Filed with Secretary of the Senate 1/28/2025; First Reading and referral to Assignments recorded the same day. (No further floor or committee action recorded in the Illinois portion of the document.)

Purpose
- To amend the Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) Card Act (430 ILCS 65) to lower the minimum age at which a person may apply for a FOID card without parental or legal guardian consent from 21 years to 18 years (with limited exceptions for active-duty military / National Guard).

Key provisions
- Amends Section 4 and Section 8 of the FOID Act (codified at 430 ILCS 65/4 and 65/8).
- Lowers the age threshold: applicants who are 18 years of age or older (rather than 21) may apply for a FOID card without written parental or guardian consent, except the bill preserves provisions for active‑duty members of the U.S. Armed Forces or Illinois National Guard and other related status-based exceptions.
- Religious-photo exemption: an applicant aged 18 (instead of 21) or older who seeks a religious exemption from the FOID photograph requirement must submit an approved copy of IRS Form 4029 (Application for Exemption From Social Security and Medicare Taxes and Waiver of Benefits) along with the FOID application.
- Existing eligibility/disqualification criteria (criminal convictions, mental-health adjudications, noncitizen status, orders of protection, etc.) remain in the statute and continue to apply to applicants of any age.

Who would be affected
- Primary: Illinois residents aged 18–20 who are not active-duty service members — they would become eligible to apply for a FOID card without parental/legal guardian consent.
- Secondary: law enforcement and Illinois State Police (administration of applications and background checks), private sellers and FFLs who rely on FOID status for transactions, and communities tracking changes in lawful firearm possession demographics.

Procedural/timing notes
- The bill amends state statute language in existing FOID sections; implementation would occur upon enactment and any effective date specified in the final law.
- As introduced, the bill requires the Illinois State Police to accept applications from the newly eligible age group and process any related religious exemption documentation (Form 4029) for 18–20‑year‑old applicants.

Potential practical impact
- Expands the pool of adults (18–20) who can lawfully obtain a FOID card and thereby possess or purchase firearms and ammunition under Illinois law, subject to the same background-check and disqualification rules that apply to older adults.
- Does not appear to alter background-check standards, disqualifying criteria, or other substantive safety‑related provisions of the FOID Act beyond the age and related paperwork changes.

Note
- The document supplied includes fragments of other states’ bills and actions (different SB 1334s). This summary focuses on the Illinois text amending the Firearm Owner’s Identification Card Act (430 ILCS 65), as labeled “FIREARM OWNERS ID-18 YRS.”