IN THE UNTED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

EASTERN DIVISION

JOHN M. MARSZALEK; ILLINOIS STATE )

RIFLE ASSOCIATION; and SECOND )

AMENDMENT FOUNDATION, INC. )

)

Plaintiffs, )

) 

v. ) 

)

BRENDAN F. KELLY, in his official )

capacity as Director of the Illinois State )

Police; and JAROD INGEBRIGTSEN, in )

his official capacity as Bureau Chief of the ) 

Illinois State Police Firearms Services )

Bureau, ) 

) No. 20-cv-4270

Defendants. )

__________________________________________)

)

BRUCE DAVIDSON, and SARAH ) Hon. Mary M. Rowland,

DAVIDSON, )

) presiding

Plaintiff-Intervenors )

)

v. )

)

BRENDAN F. KELLY, individually, acting )

under color of state law as Director of the )

Illinois State Police; and JESSICA TRAME, )

individually, acting under color of state law )

as Bureau Chief of the Illinois State Police )

Firearms Services Bureau, ) 

) 

Defendants in Intervention. )

AMENDED COMPLAINT IN INTERVENTION

NOW COME Bruce Davidson, pro se, and Sarah Davidson, by her 

Case: 1:20-cv-04270 Document #: 89-1 Filed: 06/16/21 Page 1 of 7 PageID #:528
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attorney Bruce Davidson, Plaintiff-Intervenors, and make this their Verified 

Amended Complaint against Defendants in Intervention (“Defendants”):

1. Plaintiff-Intervenors Bruce Davidson (“Bruce”) and Sarah (“Sarah”) 

Davidson (the “Davidsons”) are citizens of the United States, domiciled in the 

Village of Hinsdale in DuPage County.

2. On July 20, 2020, the Davidsons each applied for a Firearm Owners 

Identification (“FOID”) card, pursuant to section 4 of the Firearm Owners 

Identification Card Act (“FOICA”), 430 ILCS 65/. Each application was 

complete, and provided all requested and/or required information. Payment 

in the amount of twelve dollars was made by electronic means, by both Bruce 

and Sarah.

3. By the express terms of FOICA, the Davidsons’ applications should 

have been either allowed or rejected 30 days after their filing; i.e., by or on 

August 29, 2020 (430 ILCS 65/5(a)).

4. During the relevant time period (July 20, 2020 through December 

11, 2020) Defendant Brendan F. Kelly occupied the office of Director of the 

Illinois State Police (“ISP”), and Defendant Jessica Trame occupied the office 

of Bureau Chief of the Illinois State Police Firearms Services Bureau (“the 

Bureau”), a subsidiary unit of ISP.

5. Defendants, through the employees and/or agents of the Bureau, 

confirmed receipt of Bruce’s application and payment (no. 21063924), and 

confirmed receipt of Sarah’s application and payment (no. 21064050).

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6. The applications submitted by the Davidsons, as well as records 

available to Defendants, showed the Davidsons to be qualified to have their 

applications granted. There are no disqualifying causes, as set forth in 430 

ILCS 65/4(a) for denial of either Bruce’s, or Sarah’s, application. There is no 

statutory provision outside section 4(a) for cause to deny a FOID, and none of 

the statutory provisions within section 4(a) provide reason for delay of 

approving an application, or issuing a FOID card.

7. As of the date the Davidson’s Motion for Leave to Intervene was 

filed (September 28, 2020), and the filing date of their original Verified 

Complaint (November 2, 2020), Defendants’ had failed either to issue, or 

deny, or to cause the issuance or denial of, FOID cards to either of the 

Davidsons, notwithstanding the express requirements of 430 ILCS 65/5(a). 

8. FOID cards were subsequently issued to the Davidsons (to Sarah on 

November 12, 2020, and to Bruce on December 11, 2020); delays, beyond that 

permitted by FOICA, of 76 days in Sarah’s case, and 105 days in Bruce’s case.

9. Despite being aware of the legal obligations attending their offices, 

Defendants failed, during the period specified in ¶¶ 7 & 8 above, to comply 

with their obligations as State officials under the Second Amendment to the 

United States Constitution.

10. Any allegation, whether expressed in this pleading or by way of 

incorporation of other pleadings, that Defendants are being sued for actions 

“in their official capacity” are meant to allege that they acted under color of 

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their state office – and not to allege that they acted in the faithful execution 

of state policy.

11. Despite being aware of the legal obligations attending their offices, 

Defendants failed, during the period specified in ¶¶ 7 & 8 above, to comply 

with their obligations to fulfill Illinois state policy as defined by the FOICA.

12. During the period specified in ¶¶ 7 & 8 above, Defendants failed to 

execute their state and federal legal obligations, while acting under color of 

state law (by occupying the offices alleged in ¶ 4, above).

13. Defendants’ failure to comply with their federal and state 

obligations, proximately caused the Davidsons to suffer continuing injury on 

a daily basis (including, but not necessarily limited to, their ability to keep 

and bear arms, and to defend themselves against potential attacks on their 

property and persons).

14. The allegations of the principal “Complaint in Law and Equity” (R. 

1) are well- and truly-pleaded, and the Davidsons join in alleging ¶¶ 1-10, 21-

47, and 53-64 thereof, as if fully set forth herein (except that those allegations 

naming individual plaintiffs are herein amended, specifically to add the 

Davidsons).

15. It is the Davidsons’ fundamental factual position that Defendants 

occupied state offices carrying federal constitutional and state-law 

obligations, and that – while acting under color of their offices – they 

understood, or should have understood, those obligations. Further, had 

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Defendants actually acted in their official capacities, they would have 

faithfully executed state policy, and adhered to the strictures of the United 

States Constitution. Had Defendants actually acted in their official 

capacities, they would have caused the Bureau to comply with state policy, by 

supervising ISP employees in a manner causing such compliance.

16. Instead, Defendants acted as individuals either to (i) expressly 

direct ISP employees to neglect FOICA state policy, or (ii) knowingly fail to 

direct ISP employees to comply with FOICA state policy. 

17. By the acts or omissions alleged, Defendants caused the Davidsons 

to suffer mental anguish and emotional distress on account of their 

consequent disability fully to exercise their Second Amendment rights, and 

their right to self-defense. 

18. The Davidsons do not allege that the State of Illinois has adopted 

policy violative of the Second Amendment. Neither, however, do they concede 

that FOICA is constitutional. Rather, the Davidsons choose not to litigate 

FOICA’s constitutionality for purposes of this pleading.

19. The Davidsons assert that FOICA is state policy (whether or not 

constitutional) and establishes clear, and strict, limits on state licensing 

requirements. Defendants failed to adhere to that state policy and thus 

violated the Davidsons’ rights under both Illinois and federal law. 

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff-Intervenors Bruce Davidson and Sarah 

Davidson pray this Honorable Court will enter judgment in their favor, and 

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against Defendants in an amount to be determined at trial, and will award 

such other and further relief to which they may be entitled by law.

Respectfully submitted,

Bruce Davidson

Sarah Davidson

By______________________

 Bruce Davidson, pro se,

 and attorney for Sarah

 Davidson

Bruce Davidson

 ARDC Registration no. 0583057

733 North Oak Street

Hinsdale IL 60521

630-947-3117

Akivida@aol.com

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I, Bruce Davidson, an attorney, hereby certify that on ____ __, 2021, a 

true and correct copy of the foregoing Amended Complaint in Intervention was 

electronically filed with the Clerk of the U.S. District Court of the Northern 

District of Illinois, Eastern Division, via its CM/ECF System and was 

electronically served to each person listed below:

David G. Sigale, Esq. Mary A. Johnston, Esq.

Law Firm of David G. Sigale, P.C. Office of the Illinois Attorney General

799 Roosevelt Road, Suite 207 100 West Randolph Street, 13th Floor

Glen Ellyn, IL 60137 Chicago, IL 60601

630-452-4547 312-721-8734

dsigale@sigalelaw.com mjohnston@atg.state.il.us

Gregory A. Bedell, Esq. Jacob Huebert, Esq.

Knabe & Bedell Scharf-Norton Center for

33 North Dearborn Street Constitutional Litigation at the

10th Floor Goldwater Institute

Chicago, Illinois 60602 500 E. Coronado Rd.

312-977-9119 Phoenix, AZ 85004

gbedell@kkbchicago.com Telephone: 602-462-5000

jhuebert@goldwaterinstitute.org

litigation@goldwaterinstitute.org

DATED: ____ __, 2021

 Bruce Davidson

Bruce Davidson

 ARDC Registration no. 0583057

733 North Oak Street

Hinsdale IL 60521

630-947-3117

Akivida@aol.com

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