Prairie State Wire

A federal court hearing about the Illinois State Rifle Association's request for an injunction requiring the Illinois State Police to issue Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) cards within 30-days as state law requires was rescheduled for Friday, Jan. 15, the association said in a release. 

The cards are required to possess firearms or ammunition legally.

"It seems like when it comes to anything related to FOID cards, the operative word is 'delay'," Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, said in a statement.

The Illinois State Rifle Association is in a legal battle with the state over issuing permits for owning a gun or ammunition. | Flickr

There are currently 145,000 pending FOID card applications pending with an average waiting period for a card of 121 days, the Rifle Association said in a release, citing statistics from the state police.

There are also 27,000 concealed carry applications pending, the association said.

"There is a 30-day requirement to issue FOID cards, but we worked out a compromise to extend the time limit to 60 days," Pearson said in the statement. "Unbelievably, the Illinois State Police cannot even meet a 60-day time limit."

The association said it had no alternative but to take the case to court.

"Hopefully, when this case is heard on the [Jan.] 15th, we will get a positive outcome for law-abiding gun owners in Illinois."