Attorneys representing the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) have filed a motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit challenging Illinois law that bans firearms in homes licensed to provide foster or day care.
The Foster Home and Day Care Home Rules and statutes in Illinois ban adults licensed to foster parent or provide day care in their own homes from keeping functional firearms for self-defense, even if they are otherwise allowed to possess them.
Miller v. Mueller Backgrounder:
The lawsuit Miller v. Mueller was brought by Jennifer and Darin Miller, along with the Illinois State Rifle Association, Illinois Carry, and the Second Amendment Foundation. The case challenges Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) rules and state statutes that ban licensed foster parents and home day care operators from keeping functional firearms in their homes.
Under Illinois law, foster parents and day care license holders must keep any firearms unloaded, disassembled, and locked away, with ammunition stored separately. Handguns are outright prohibited during the operating hours of a home day care. Even individuals who are otherwise fully licensed under Illinois law to own and carry firearms (through FOID cards and concealed carry permits) cannot exercise those rights if they also hold these child-care licenses.
The Millers argue this places them in an impossible position: comply with the law and lose the ability to defend themselves at home, or keep firearms for self-defense and risk losing their foster care or day care licenses.
Legal Arguments
- Plaintiffs’ Position: The bans violate the Second Amendment, as recognized in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), which struck down “safe storage” laws that made firearms unusable for immediate self-defense. They argue that, under New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022), the state must prove such restrictions are consistent with the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation—but there is no such tradition banning guns in people’s homes merely because they foster children or run day cares.
- Defendants’ Position: The Illinois Attorney General and DCFS Director argue the restrictions are justified for child safety. However, much of the historical evidence they rely on comes from the late 19th and 20th centuries, which plaintiffs argue is too late to define the Second Amendment’s original meaning.
Current Status
The case has been ongoing since 2018, originally filed as Miller v. Smith. In September 2025, the plaintiffs filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that under Bruen the challenged bans cannot survive constitutional review.
In short: Miller v. Mueller is a major Second Amendment case out of Illinois that tests whether the state can condition foster care and day care licenses on giving up the right to keep functional firearms at home.
“Being a caretaker does not come at the expense of your fundamental rights,” said SAF Director of Legal Operations Bill Sack. “The constitutional analysis is no different here than for any other type of gun control. The burden is on the state to prove a historical tradition of similar regulation at the time of the Founding, and that tradition simply does not exist.”
SAF is joined in the case, Miller v. Mueller (formerly Miller v. Smith) by the Illinois State Rifle Association, Illinois Carry and two private citizens, Darin and Jennifer Miller.
“This case was originally filed in 2022 and it’s time for a resolution,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “The Bruen Supreme Court ruling shoots down the state’s arguments, but they continue to spend taxpayer dollars fighting a case they know they’ll lose. It’s past time to end this case once and for all.”
For more information, visit SAF.org.
Second Amendment Foundation
The Second Amendment Foundation (saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group dedicated to safeguarding and promoting the fundamental rights of individuals enshrined in the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. SAF engages in aggressive legal action to ensure the principles of armed self-defense, personal liberty, and the ownership of arms are defended, secured, and restored. Through public education initiatives, SAF teaches the importance of the Second Amendment to promote a society that values and exercises the right to keep and bear arms.
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