ILLINOIS (WAND) - The Illinois FOID card backlog has been drastically reduced, Illinois State Police announced Tuesday. 

An ISP release said troopers are rebuilding the Firearms Service Bureau with a focus on public safety and streamlining bureaucracy. As a result, the FOID renewal backlog has been cut by 89 percent, while the new applicant backlog has seen a 75 percent reduction. 

When it saw a surge in applications in 2020, the Firearms Services Bureau started a multi-faceted approach to increase efficiencies to reduce processing times, remove redundancies and streamline the process to eliminate future backlogs. Improvements have been three-fold through technology and process, hiring and legislation. 

The FSB is currently processing within the mandated 72 hours, ISP said, despite a high number of Firearm Transaction Inquiries. 

See the PDF document attached to this story for more information from state police.Â