Illinois FOID: Fact of fiction?

[oncewaslost]

So I am in the local gun shop today and the guy behind the counter asks to see my FOID card before he will show me a gun. Then he proceeds to tell me "you know, the hollogram in the lower corner of the card lets them know you have an FOID from afar."

Is this tin foil hat crap or what?

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

Worried? Wrap it in thin lead foil.

 

[C0untZer0]

I have a hologram - Illinois Eagle ?

Doesn't mean anything as far I can tell

 

[oncewaslost]

No I am not worried.
I just wondered if I wrongly judged the guy behind the counter.

 

[Blackbeard]

It does let them know you have a FOID from a distance -- about arm's length -- by looking at it.

 

[Sam1911]

The hologram has nothing to do with this. The possibility of reading cards from a distance has to do with RFID circuits implanted in cards, mostly for purposes of contactless payment via credit and debit cards. (Those that you just wave at the gas pump, for example.)

A quick search seems to indicate that IL has not added RFID technology to their FOID cards yet.

You can check for sure by having someone take an x-ray of the card. If the RFID circuit is present it is very plainly visible in the x-ray. So far reports from folks who have checked that way indicate that there is none.

 

[Trent]

I'm sorry I can't hear you with this thing on my head.

 

[oncewaslost]

I was thinking RFID was only good for a short distance.

 

[Sam1911]

About 16' or so at the very most.

"From afar" would be overstating things. Sort of like saying the three wise men in the Bible story came from, like, maybe across the room.