JERSEY COUNTY - Jersey County Sheriff Mike Ringhausen said today several residents have received letters saying their FOID (Firearm Owner Identification) Cards have been suspended. He said 87 people as of Thursday have reported to the Sheriff's Office that they received these letters.

He questions the letters and is communicating with state officials about their validity. He said at this point, his office will not act on the letters until he is shown these are official.

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“The people who have come to me are legal, law-abiding citizens,” he said.

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A Greene County instructor had his license temporarily suspended and some in the county have received letters because of that.

Those who receive a letter of this type should contact the State Police to make sure it is official and there are steps they are supposed to follow to get their FOID cards reinstated. A refresher course can be taken to receive official certification and supposedly run for about three hours.

Sheriff Ringhausen said normally he receives a handful of these types of FOID suspensions, but they are usually because of someone’s mental status or a violation of a court order or an order of protection - but in these cases, there is no evidence of that, he said.

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