April 11, 2022
For immediate release
Firearms Owners Against Crime Institute for Legal, Legislative, and Educational Action (FOAC-ILLEA) has filed suit in the Commonwealth Court against the Pennsylvania State Police.
The Pennsylvania State Police directly infringes upon and often delays, due to PSP Commissioner Evanchick’s practices and policies, the Rights of law-abiding Pennsylvanians and business owners by forcing citizens to submit to the antiquated and cumbersome Pennsylvania Instant Check System (PICS) so that they can gain permission from the government to exercise their most basic Constitutional Rights; to be armed and to bear arms.
As set-forth in the lawsuit, PSP Commissioner Evanchick has instituted a practice, in direct defiance of the General Assembly's mandate. Our general counsel, Josh Prince, has been quoted: As set-forth in the lawsuit, PSP Commissioner Evanchick has instituted a practice, in direct defiance of the General Assembly's mandate, that purposely understaffs the PSP’s Instant Check Unit by only employing two PSP officers and a number of civilians (less than 90) as operators for conducting almost 1.5 million background checks per year, resulting in delays, as admitted by the PSP on its own website, that typically exceed 7 hours, and in some occasions, exceed 34 hours, even though the statutes require the background check system to be "instantaneous." As a result of Commissioner Evanchick's practice, numerous individuals have been disenfranchised of their statutory and constitutional rights under the Pennsylvania and U.S. Constitutions and therefore, we are seeking not only declaratory relief that Commissioner Evanchick’s practice is unlawful, but additionally an injunction requiring the PSP to comply with the General Assembly's mandate that the background check system be instantaneous.
FOAC-ILLEA President, Kim Stolfer, says; we have been tracking and interacting with the legislature since 1998. The futility of decades of lobbying has ended up leaving us ‘no choice’ but to file this legal action! If we are interested in solving this problem and restoring system integrity then we simply cannot rely on the bureaucratic leadership of the Pennsylvania State Police and must seek the intervention of the courts.
FOAC-ILLEA is dedicated to protecting and defending citizens’ rights and, along with that, educating citizens and legislators alike what it means to protect the Constitution. Individuals who would like to join the FOAC-ILLEA Grassroots Volunteers or donate to support pro-Second Amendment programs to protect and restore the right to keep and bear arms should visit Join FOAC-ILLEA. For more on ILLEA’s lawsuits and other pro-Second Amendment initiatives, follow FOAC-ILLEA on, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube.
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Firearms Owners Against Crime - Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action (“FOAC-ILLEA”) is a non-partisan, non-profit corporation organized as a Social Welfare Organization pursuant to section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code for the purposes of developing and advocating for legislation, regulations, and government programs to improve safety, protect citizens, stimulate sportsmen’s activities and safe legal firearm ownership; conducting and publicizing research into the positions of elected officials concerning these issues; providing legal defense of firearms and sportsmen's related issues; and educating the public on safe and legal firearm ownership, and constitutional issues.
