Almost every weapons charge in Illinois carries a companion consequence that has nothing to do with the courtroom. The moment you are charged, the Illinois State Police can revoke your Firearm Owner’s Identification Card and your concealed carry license through an administrative process that runs on its own track, on its own timeline, before any judge rules on guilt.
That means two things. Winning the criminal case does not automatically restore your cards, and losing track of the administrative side while you focus on the criminal charge can cost you your firearm rights even in a case that ends favorably. We handle both.
Your FOID Is a Separate Fight
The criminal charge and the FOID or concealed carry revocation are decided in different forums under different standards. An acquittal or dismissal does not automatically return your card. Relief has to be pursued separately, and the sooner it starts, the better positioned you are.
Primary Practice Areas in Weapons Charges
Illinois collects nearly every firearm offense in Article 24 of the Criminal Code. The charge names sound similar. The sentencing exposure is not.
Unlawful Possession of a Weapon
Carrying, possessing, and prior-record enhancements
Most firearm cases in Illinois start here and escalate from here. A missing FOID card, a loaded firearm within reach in a vehicle, or a prior felony conviction can each move the same underlying conduct from a misdemeanor to a felony, and a defendant with two qualifying priors can face a charge that carries no possibility of probation. The facts that drive that escalation are exactly the facts worth contesting.
Firearm Discharge Offenses
Aggravated, reckless, and machine gun discharge
Discharge charges do not require anyone to be hit, and some do not require a target at all. Firing at a person, a building, or an occupied vehicle carries serious felony exposure, and so does firing in a way the State says endangered someone nearby. These cases usually turn on identification, because who was present and who pulled the trigger are two very different questions.
Restricted Weapons and Accessories
Assault weapons, magazines, and prohibited ammunition
Illinois restricts certain semiautomatic firearms, attachments, high-capacity magazines, and specific types of ammunition. Registration deadlines, grandfathering rules, and exemptions have shifted since the law took effect, and a gun owner can be charged over a compliance failure rather than any intent to break the law. That distinction matters, and we make it.
Provisions Are Under Appeal
The assault weapon and large-capacity magazine provisions are being litigated in federal court and remain enforceable while that appeal is pending. A person can be charged today under a statute that may be reviewed later. If you are facing one of these charges, the posture of the litigation matters to your defense and should be discussed with an attorney before anything else.
Ghost Guns and Serial Number Offenses
Unserialized firearms, frames, and receivers
Building, buying, or holding a firearm without a serial number is a crime in Illinois, and so is possessing an unfinished frame or receiver that has not been serialized. Penalties range from a misdemeanor to a felony depending on the conduct. These statutes are recent, the case law interpreting them is still thin, and the defenses are still being written.
Gun Sale, Transfer, and Trafficking
Delivery, purchase, and multi-firearm offenses
Selling or delivering a firearm unlawfully is charged more severely near a school or by a liquor licensee, and buying one through a false statement or a third party is its own offense. At the top of this group sit gunrunning and firearms trafficking, which frequently draw federal interest alongside the state charge. Where a case sits in that range depends heavily on the facts, and those facts are worth contesting early.
Stolen Firearm Offenses
Possession, aggravated possession, and use in a crime
The State does not have to prove you stole the firearm to convict you of possessing it. It has to prove you knew. When more than one firearm is involved, or when a stolen firearm is tied to another offense, the charges stack rather than replace one another. Knowledge is the contested element in nearly every one of these cases.
What a Former Prosecutor Looks for First
Patrick Weiland spent close to a decade as a DuPage County Assistant State’s Attorney. In that role, the first question on a firearm file was never whether the defendant had the gun. It was whether the officer could explain, on the record, why the stop happened, why the search followed, and how the firearm came into view.
That is still the first question we ask, and it is why we start with the police reports, the squad video, and the body camera footage rather than the charging instrument. A firearm the State cannot lawfully put into evidence is a firearm the State cannot use. When suppression is available, we file it. When it is not, we build the case that remains, whether that means contesting knowledge and constructive possession, challenging the chain of custody, or presenting the sentencing court with a complete picture of who you are.
For first-time defendants, Illinois also offers the First Time Weapon Offender Program under 730 ILCS 5/5-6-3.6, which can resolve certain non-violent firearm cases without a felony conviction. Eligibility is narrow. It is worth knowing whether you qualify before the State makes its first offer.
Why Dolci Weiland & Sendlak?
Weapons charges are rarely the only thing a client is facing; they arrive alongside a FOID revocation, a pending case in another courtroom, or a search that never should have happened. At Dolci Weiland & Sendlak, we offer:
Prosecutorial experience on your side of the table: Patrick Weiland prosecuted felony cases for DuPage County for nearly ten years. He knows how the State builds a weapons file because he’s built them.
The 18th Judicial Circuit is our home court: Weapons cases in DuPage County are typically heard in Wheaton. We appear there regularly, and we know the courtroom practices that shape how these cases move.
The Administrative Track Is Not Overlooked: The criminal charge and the Illinois State Police revocation of your FOID card run on separate tracks under different standards. We make sure you understand what the revocation means for you and when it has to be answered.
Secure Your Rights Today
A weapons charge can cost you your freedom, your firearm rights, and your record long after the case itself is over. Contact our team to begin building a defense that addresses every consequence you are facing, not just the one on the charging document.
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Protecting Your Freedom. Defending Your Record. Restoring Your Rights.