concealed carry

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ISRA On Quinn’s Amendatory Veto

July 3, 2013 by

The Illinois State Rifle Association is taking a dim view of Gov. Pat Quinn’s amendatory veto of HB 183 which provides for that state’s concealed carry. They are asking people who live in Illinois to contact their legislators and ask them to vote to override the amendatory veto. Given that the bill was passed in both houses of the Illinois General Assembly by veto-proof majorities, it is essential that those who voted for the initial bill vote continue to vote to override.

From ISRA Alert:

GOVERNOR QUINN’S SOFT SPOT FOR CRIMINALS RESULTS IN VETO OF CONCEALED CARRY

As many of you know by now, Governor Quinn today issued an amendatory veto of HB0183, otherwise known as Concealed Carry. In issuing his veto, Quinn renders HB0183 essentially worthless from a self-defense perspective.

Under Quinn’s amendments to the bill, most public locations would be “off limits” for concealed carry. Furthermore, firearms would have to be carried in a closed container out of the view of the public. Making concealed carry even more impractical is Quinn’s restriction limiting licensees to one firearm and no more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

Quinn’s amendatory veto contains a whole host of other restrictions that are aimed not only at hindering concealed carry, but also at suppressing the citizen’s right to keep and bear arms in general.

Although Quinn claims his veto is in the interest of public safety, the truth of the matter is that Quinn is using HB0183 as a vehicle to punish firearm owners. Quinn’s motives were made abundantly clear by his decision to surround himself with anti-gun extremists as he announced his veto. Quinn even stood side by side with Fr. Michael Pfleger, the Catholic priest who has openly called for gun shop owners and pro-gun elected officials to be dragged into the streets and murdered.

The bottom line is this: if Quinn’s amendatory veto of HB0183 is not overturned, law-abiding gun owners will have fewer rights than they had before HB0183 was even drafted. Yes, that’s right; HB0183 has been transformed into a gun control bill.

HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO SAVE CONCEALED CARRY AND SAVE YOUR GUNS

1. Immediately phone your State Representative AND your State Senator and politely tell the person who answers the phone that you are a law abiding firearm owner who wishes to see Governor Quinn’s amendatory veto of HB0183 overturned. Phone lines will be busy, but keep trying until you get through. If you do not know who your Senator or Representative is, the Illinois State Board of Elections has an interactive search page here:
www.elections.state.il.us/DistrictLocator/DistrictOfficialSearchByAddress.aspx

If you know who your state legislators are, you can find their contact info here:
www.ilga.gov/house/ and www.ilga.gov/senate/ .

2. Pass this alert on to your friends and family and ask them to call too.

3. Post this Alert to any and all Internet blogs or bulletin boards to which you belong.

4. Take the time to sign up a new ISRA member. ISRA needs the continued support of Illinois gun owners.

If you remain silent, you are giving Quinn tacit approval of his gun control folly.

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Make That Former MAIG Member

June 23, 2013 by 3 Comments

Mayor Larry Morrissey of Rockford, Illinois was a member of Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors in good standing. Even this morning their website showed him as a member of their “coalition” as you can see in the screenshot below.

I say “was a member” because Mayor Morrissey not only dropped out of MAIG yesterday but has indicated that he will be seeking a concealed carry permit as soon as it finally becomes law in the state of Illinois. His decision to seek a concealed carry permit is due to his receiving death threats in office for which the Rockford PD provided him extra protection.

As he told the Rockford Register Star, “I don’t want to put my family’s life at risk or my own life at risk if I can otherwise protect myself.”

Regarding his decision to quit Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors, he had this to say:

“The reason why I joined the group in the first place was because I took the name for what it said, against illegal guns,” Morrissey said.

Morrissey said he didn’t expect the organization to get involved with banning magazine clips or “assault” weapons.

“As the original mission swayed, that’s when I decided it was no longer in line with my beliefs,” Morrissey said.

You have to wonder how many other mayors across the country were sold the line that all MAIG wanted to do was prevent criminals from having firearms as opposed to preventing everyone but Mayor Bloomberg’s personal protection team from having firearms.

In the meantime, Mayor Morrissey should be congratulated on the wisdom of his decision to not only distance himself from MAIG but to step and provide the protection himself for he and his family. If you want to congratulate him, contact information is found here.

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Madigan Files For 30 Day Stay On Mandate (Updated)

June 4, 2013 by 8 Comments

Getting each house of the Illinois General Assembly to pass a concealed carry law with lopsided margins looks to have been the easy part. The harder part, in many ways, is going to be getting the law implemented.

It just got a bit harder today thanks to the machinations of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. She has filed a motion to stay the 7th Circuit’s 180 day mandate to have a concealed carry law in place for another 30 days. She gives as her rationale that it would give Gov. Pat Quinn “a reasonable time to fulfill his constitutional duties.” The Illinois Constitution gives the governor 60 days after a bill’s passage to consider and sign it. That amount of time is one of the longest in the nation according to the National Governor’s Association.

Madigan argues that the additional time is necessary to avoid having no state law in place which she says was the court’s original intent of the 180-day stay of its mandate.

The expiration of the stay on June 9 without a substitute law in place
would present a significant harm, not to the defendants in an individualized or
official capacity, but to the People and Constitution of Illinois. The current stay of
this Court’s mandate expires in less than one week, significantly shortening the
sixty-day period constitutionally afforded the Governor to consider and sign
legislation into law. Expiration of the stay on June 9 will either eliminate that
constitutionally-provided period entirely or create a gap in state firearm regulation.
These represent unnecessary harms to the public interest.

Madigan goes on to argue that 30 days is only for the “orderly completion of the legislative process and is not intended for purposes of delay.” If this is indeed the case, one might well ask why Madigan isn’t asking for 51 days or the full amount of time left for Gov. Quinn to either sign or veto the bill under the Illinois Constitution.

Madigan concludes her argument by saying she recognizes that a delay of a constitutional right imposes a burden upon the plaintiffs but that is outweighed by the public’s interest in not having a period where no law is in effect.

It should be noted that Madigan still has another 21 days left on her extension in which to file a writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court appealing this case. There is no word on what she intends to do regarding that.

UPDATE: Despite it being highly irregular and that a stay would seem to violate many of the Rules of Federal Appellate Procedure, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan got her order staying the mandate of the court for another 30 days. 

1. MOTION TO STAY MANDATE FOR 30 ADDITIONAL DAYS, filed on
June 3, 2013, by counsel for the appellees.

2. OPPOSITION TO MOTION TO STAY MANDATE FOR ADDITIONAL 30
DAYS, filed on June 4, 2013, by counsel for appellants Michael Moore, Charles
Hooks, Peggy Fechter, Jon Maier, Second Amendment Foundation, Inc., and
Illinois Carry.

3. PLAINTIFFS-APPELLANTS MARY SHEPARD AND ILLINOIS STATE
RIFLE ASSOCIATION’S OPPOSITION TO MOTION TO STAY MANDATE
FOR ADDITIONAL 30 DAYS, filed on June 4, 2013, by counsel for appellants
Mary Shepard and the Illinois State Rifle Association.

IT IS ORDERED that the motion to stay mandate for additional 30 days is GRANTED.
This court’s mandate is STAYED until July 9, 2013. No further extensions to stay the court’s
mandate will be granted.
form

 Sebastian has more on the opposing motions here.

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Concealed Carry Bill Passes Both Illinois Houses

May 31, 2013 by 3 Comments

Illinois will have shall-issue concealed carry regardless of whether Gov. Pat Quinn likes it or not. Today, both houses of the Illinois General Assembly passed the compromise bill, HB183, by a greater than a 75% margin.

First, HB183 with the language of Amendments 5, 6, and 7 passed the State Senate by a vote of 45 yea, 12 nay, and 1 present on its Third Reading. The one present vote was by Sen. Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago). The yea votes did include State Senate President John Cullerton who is no fan of gun rights.

The bill then went to the House of Representatives for concurrence on Amendments 5, 6, and 7. Amendment 5 which was the major part of the bill passed with an 89 yea to 28 nay vote. Likewise, Amendment 6 and Amendment 7 received concurrence by the same vote margin.

The bill now goes to the governor’s desk where Gov. Quinn now has 60 days to either sign or veto the bill. However, the stay from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals expires on June 9th. I would presume that Quinn will need to act sooner than later if he doesn’t want the courts to intervene.

Video from the Senate vote is below:

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Illinois Concealed Carry Compromise Language Posted

May 31, 2013 by 12 Comments

The compromise on concealed carry in Illinois seems to have been reached. There are two amendments to HB183 by Sen. Gary Forby (D-Benton) who is one of the strongest pro-gun advocates in the Illinois State Senate.

Given that both the bill and the two amendments are quite lengthy, it will take some time to digest just what will be allowed.

The text of Amendment 5 is here and the text of Amendment 6 is here.

From what I can gather from those who are working through it on the IllinoisCarry.com forum, the amendments provide the following:

  • It is shall-issue carry
  • Preemption applies to handguns only. Will include both ammunition and magazines. See Sec. 90. Preemption applies to FOID card holders only.
  • 16 hours of training required but 8 hours can be waived for prior military service and hunter safety courses.
  • Cost of the license will be$150 for residents; $300 for non-residents. Renewal for residents is $150.
  • No reciprocity with other states
  • Establishes CUI or carrying under the influence. Penalties the same as for DUI. Applies to all including LEO.
  • A carry license doesn’t exempt the holder from a NICS check on a firearms purchase
  •  Restaurants that have over 50% of profits from alcohol sales must post premises. Onus is on business owner to post.
  • Counties and municipalities have 10 days after bill signing or veto override to have firearms ordinances in place. After that time, there is state preemption on all firearms issues.
  • Law states firearm must be concealed or partially concealed.
  • Chicago/Cook County gets to keep its AWB and mag restrictions for rifles and shotguns

I’ll post more when I know it.Thirdpower at Days of Our Trailers has more on it here.

UPDATE: A reader sent me an email noting the bill also has preemption on carry and preemption on transport.

 Sen. Gary Forby is now the official sponsor of the bill in the Senate along with Sen. Jim Oberweis (R-N. Aurora) while Rep. Brandon Phelps (D-Harrisburg) is now the official House sponsor. They replace Sen. Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago) and Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skoie) respectively.


Sen. Forby has introduced a 7th Amendment which changes who will appoint the NRA representative of the task force that will study how to consolidate the CCW and the FOID card into a designation on driver’s licenses and state ID cards. Currently, the NRA representative would be appointed by the Speaker of the House. The amendment changes this to making the Secretary of State responsible for this.

The Senate is currently debating this bill.

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Media Rumors On Carry Compromise In Illinois

May 31, 2013 by 7 Comments

The Illinois Observer and the Associated Press are both reporting that a compromise has been reached on a concealed carry bill in Illinois. That said, the Illinois Carry forum has generally been more accurate and more timely than the media. At this time (9 pm Eastern), they are saying they have nothing yet on a compromise.

From the Illinois Observer:

A top source tells The Illinois Observer that lawmakers have an agreement that will preempt home rule only on firearms transportation and existing conceal carry laws.

The legislators, State Senators Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago) and Tim Bivins (R-Dixon), State Reps. Mike Bost (R- Murphysboro), Ed Sullivan (R-Mundelein), Brandon Phelps (D-Harrisburg), Frank Mautino (D-Spring Valley) and Dennis Reboletti (R-Elmhurst) meeting House Speaker Michael Madigan’s conference room on Thursday afternoon, have also agreed that all existing assault weapons bans will remain in place.

However, the lawmakers, who excluded the governor’s Illinois State Police representatives from the negotiations, have agreed that any new assault weapon bans must be adopted by home rule communities within 10 days of the law taking effect. In reality, the new conceal carry law will ban any further assault weapons bans.

Additionally, the bill will abolish Chicago’s gun registry.

The Associated Press is quoting Sen. Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago) as saying a compromise has been reached. The compromise legislation will be introduced on Friday by Sen. Gary Forby (D-Benton)

Raoul told The Associated Press that lawmakers are “still tightening up details” but the package has reached common ground on key issues. Those compromises include preserving local gun ordinances and prohibiting weapons from being carried in places including schools and public parks, and tightening penalties.

Raoul says the bill will preserve elements from two pieces of legislation considered in a Senate committee earlier this week.

Until we see the actual bill – if there is actually a bill – we won’t know for sure what sort of compromise has been reached. The fact that it is Sen. Raoul being quoted as saying a compromise has been reached makes me just a bit suspicious. If it were Rep. Brandon Phelps (D-Harrisburg) who has been one of the leading pro-gun legislators in Illinois, I’d believe it.

UPDATE: Todd Vandermyde, the NRA’s lobbyist in Illinois and one of the most plugged-in guys I’ve ever met, had this to say on the IllinoisCarry.com forum about the compromise.

The senate has adjourned for the night.

We are awaiting an amendment on a carry bill. Lots of rumors surrounding what is in and what is out.

Rumor is that the bill will go through the senate first.

With the senate adjourned, the mag ban SB1002 is impossible to pass into law as the bill requires three days in the house,there is only one left.

We may still see a lost or stolen type bill such as SB841 but again it needs 3 days to pass the house on all 3 readings. This assumes they don’t tack it onto a houseboll and try to kick them, back on concurance.

Frankly, if Todd hasn’t seen the language on the compromise, then I can assure you that no one in the media has seen it either.

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Illinois General Assembly Playing Political Chicken Over CCW

May 29, 2013 by 7 Comments

The Illinois General Assembly is playing a game of political chicken over concealed carry with only nine days to go before the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals stay on their ruling ends. On one side you have the Illinois State House of Representatives which has passed a shall-issue concealed carry law with limitations but that does mandate state preemption on firearms laws. On the other side you have Gov. Pat Quinn (D-IL), State Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago), Attorney General Lisa Madigan (D-IL), Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D), and others of their gun prohibitionist ilk who want to preserve home rule at all costs even if it means not meeting the Court of Appeals deadline to craft a concealed carry law that was consistent with the court’s ruling.

This past Friday the Illinois House of Representatives passed an amended bill by a vote of 85 to 30. It had the support of House Speaker Michael Madigan as well as the pro-gun forces led by Rep. Brandon Phelps (D-Harrisburg). That bill was a compromise. While it provided shall-issue concealed carry and preempted all local firearms laws in Illinois, it also mandated 16 hours of training, a $150 fee, and did not provide for any sort of reciprocity with other states and their CCW licenses. The House had previously failed to pass both a really good shall-issue carry bill sponsored by Rep. Brandon Phelps as well as a draconian may-issue bill sponsored by Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago). Gov. Quinn and State Senate President Cullerton started attacking this bill the moment it was passed.

After the Memorial Day Weekend, the Senate Executive Committee (equivalent to a Rules Committee in other legislative bodies) took up the bill that passed the State House as well as one by Sen. Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago). It should be noted that the Executive Committee Democrats are reportedly, for the most part, Cullerton loyalists. Given that, it is not surprising that they refused to let the House bill out of committee and sent forth the draconian concealed carry bill.

Senate Democrats Tuesday blocked legislation backed by House Speaker Michael Madigan to permit Illinois gun owners to carry their weapons in public areas and gut local gun laws, opting instead for a stricter measure favored by gun-control advocates.

The votes by the Senate Executive Committee further muddied the prospects of the House and Senate agreeing on a single plan to meet a court-imposed June 9th deadline to pass concealed-carry legislation and end Illinois’ last-in-the-nation status barring gun owners from carrying their weapons with them.

Opposed by Gov. Pat Quinn, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Attorney General Lisa Madigan, the speaker’s concealed-carry bill that would undo more than 100 communities’ gun-control laws died in the Senate committee on a 6-8 vote.

An alternative carried by Sen. Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago) that would spare those local gun ordinances advanced on a 10-4 vote, with one member voting present.

Senate President Cullerton’s aim is to preserve home rule on firearms laws. His strategy seems to be to use the Raoul bill as his bargaining chip. In other words, he’ll be willing to trade off the worst parts of the Raoul bill in exchange for the ability of Chicago and its suburbs to still have their local gun control laws. As he said in the Chicago Tribune’s Clout Street:

With Friday’s adjournment deadline getting closer, Cullerton suggested a
compromise bill could take shape through further negotiations. “If we
get over this super pre-emption that wipes out all these ordinances, we
then have a concealed carry bill,” Cullerton said.

Other commentators such as Eric Zorn of Chicago Tribune and Rich Miller of the Capital Facts column have both noted that Cullerton is quite willing to have concealed carry laws determined by each and every one of the 208 local home-rule units in Illinois.

From Miller’s Capital Facts column:

“In the case of concealed carry, some say we have to pass a bill,” Cullerton told Chicago reporters.

“The fact of the matter is, if we don’t pass a bill in Springfield, the city of Chicago, county of Cook, 208 home rule units can pass their own legislation.

“So, while we should pass a sensible bill to regulate it statewide, if we don’t it’s not the end of the world.”

It was the clearest statement yet from Cullerton that not passing a concealed carry bill might be the best way to go.

As you already know, a federal appellate court has given Illinois until June 9 to pass a new public carry law. If not, all of Illinois’ current carry laws will be struck down as unconstitutional on that date.

At first, liberals were being stampeded into passing new legislation. But Chicago’s mayor and his legislative allies have lately made it quietly known that not passing a bill might not be so bad. Chicago could pass a much stricter proposal than anything that could ever receive the General Assembly’s imprimatur, for instance.

Zorn warns of the chaos that would ensue if the General Assembly fails to pass a concealed carry law and it falls to the 208 local home-rule units to pass their own laws on the issue.

Imagine officials of more than 200 local home-rule units of government in Illinois — trustees, aldermen, councilors, commissioners, most of them part-timers — suddenly and urgently attempting to craft and pass a new ordinance to allow their constituents to carry concealed weapons in public.

Who is entitled to a permit? What training will it take to get a permit and who will provide and authorize it? Will permit-holders be able to carry their weapons on buses and trains? In taverns? In parks? In hospitals?

And so on. More than 200 political brush fires on one of our most divisive, contentious public policy issues breaking out all over the state nearly all at once. To be followed, inevitably, by nearly as many lawsuits filed by those who feel that the new laws continue to violate the Second Amendment’s guarantee of the right to keep and bear arms.

Is that what we want? Because that’s what many observers think we’re going to get if the bickering Illinois General Assembly fails to agree on a concealed carry law by the June 9 deadline imposed late last year by a federal court.

Zorn warns the gun control forces that they may not like the result given the “notable and persistent enthusiasm gap” between gun rights supporters and gun control advocates.

So the passage of a concealed carry law comes down to this: a game of political chicken being played out amongst the Chicago power brokers. Madigan, Cullerton, Quinn, Emanuel, and Madigan’s daughter Lisa the AG are all Chicago politicians. It will come down to who is the most powerful. My bet right now is on Mike Madigan as he has served longer as Speaker than anyone, he is chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois, and he is a ward committeeman in Chicago. None of the others can match that. In the meantime, the good people of Illinois remain at the mercy of the thugs.

UPDATE: WGN-TV out of Chicago had this on the concealed carry bill negotiations this evening:

A lot of what happened today happened behind closed doors in the office of House Speaker Mike Madigan in an effort to reach a compromise on concealed carry legislation.

Lawmakers want that done. They’re facing a court-imposed June 9th deadline. They’re close on that, and nearing a deal on expanding gambling.

In negotiations like this, it is always going to be the weaker party that makes the trek to the stronger party’s office.

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ISRA Warns Of Attempt To Hijack Illinois CCW Bill

May 28, 2013 by 4 Comments

The Illinois State Rifle Association just issued an urgent alert regarding attempts by Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) and Sen. Dan Kotowski (D-Park Ridge) to hijack the compromise concealed carry bill, S 2193, that was passed overwhelmingly in the Illinois House. Cullerton went on record immediately after the bill passed the House condemning it because it removed home-rule exceptions in Illinois firearms laws.

From ISRA:

SENATE PRESIDENT CULLERTON AND SENATOR KOTOWSKI SCHEMING TO DERAIL CONCEALED CARRY

Senate gun grabbers John Cullerton, Dan Kotowski and Kwame Raoul were busy this holiday weekend constructing a plan to derail the passage of concealed carry legislation.

As most of you know, House Speaker Madigan and Rep. Phelps last week hammered out a concealed carry bill (SB2193) that passed the House with 85 votes. Although the bill was not 100% of what law-abiding Illinois gun owners were hoping for, SB2193 serves as a good baseline for the institution of state-wide personal protection measures.

As expected, anti-gun extremists in the Illinois Senate went to work immediately with a plan to shut down SB2193 when it came over from the House. Based on what the ISRA has learned, Cullerton-Kotowski-Raoul have come up with a bill of their own that would have so many exemptions that concealed carry permits would be impossible to get. Furthermore, there are reportedly so many restrictions in their proposal that, even if you were fortunate enough to be granted a carry permit, there would be very few areas where you would be able to carry legally. Of course, the places where concealed carry would be the most necessary are exempted in the Cullerton-Kotowski-Raoul “no carry” plan.

One thing is for certain, Senate President John Cullerton has refused to allow Sen. Forby to call SB2193 for a vote in the Senate – effectively killing the bill.

We are not 100% sure as of yet what the Cullerton-Kotowski-Raoul bill number will be. We think it will come as an amendment to HB0183.

HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO STOP CULLERTON FROM HIJACKING CONCEALED CARRY:

1. Immediately call your Illinois Senator and politely tell the person on the phone that you are a law-abiding Illinois gun owner and that you oppose Senate President Cullerton’s attempts to hijack concealed carry. Politely tell the person that you expect the Senator to vote against any concealed carry proposal Cullerton tries to advance. If you do not know who your Illinois Senator is, click this link:

Illinois State Board of Elections

2. Please pass this alert on to your family and friends, ask them to make calls as well.

3. Please post this alert to any and all Internet bulletin boards or blogs to which you belong.

REMEMBER: The fate of concealed carry is in your hands!

UPDATE: More on the behind the scenes machinations of the gun prohibitionists in the Illinois State Senate from the Facebook page of IL-Gunlobby.

..Call your senator today and tell them to oppose HB183 amend 4

The senate dems met for a 2 hour caucus that devolved into a a shouting match amoung senators.

The President is refusing to allow Senator Forby to call the house carry bill. Instead they are going to offer an amendment to their bill that takes most of the parts of the House bill but then strips out the safe harbor provisions, any private property can ban firearms on their property all they want. .

They will remove restaurant carry and increase penalties for carrying while intoxicated to a class A misdemeanor.

They will also whittle down the preemption to only apply to carrying. But unclear if that applies to mags, ammunition and other things or not.

We could see an amendment late tonight with a committee hearing in the AM but unsure as these clowns don’t seem to be very organized

More as we get it

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Illinois House Passes Concealed Carry 85-30

May 24, 2013 by 3 Comments

The Illinois State House of Representatives passed the compromise concealed carry bill today by a vote of 85 yea, 30 nays, and 1 present. SB 2193 now goes back to the State Senate for their concurrence.

MyStateline.com reports that Gov. Pat Quinn (D-IL) is opposed to the bill and will work to defeat it. The sticking point for Quinn is state preemption of all firearm laws which negates home-rule for places like Chicago and Cook County.

The margin in the House would override a Governor’s veto, but Governor
Quinn pledged in a statement to do whatever he could to defeat it,
calling it “a massive overreach on the concealed carry issue that would
automatically repeal local public safety ordinances including Chicago’s
assault weapons ban. … The principle of home rule is an important one.
As written, this legislation is a massive overreach that would repeal
critical gun safety ordinances in Chicago, Cook County, and across
Illinois.”

Examining the 30 nay votes on SB 2193 finds that they are all Democrats and, with one exception, are all from Chicago, Cook County, or an adjoining county. The one exception was Rep. Charles Jefferson (D-Rockford).

The roll call of the votes is found here.

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A Round-Up On The Compromise CCW Bill In Illinois

May 24, 2013 by 8 Comments

Facing a June 9th deadline, it looks like the Illinois State House might be able to pass a compromise bill. They have already shot down Rep. Brandon Phelps’ (D-Harrisburg) shall-issue bill as well as a may-issue bill. The compromise bill is just that – it doesn’t really satisfy either side but it may be the best one can get given the bifurcated nature of Illinois politics.

The Illinois State Rifle Association released the following alert this afternoon. It is important to note that they are neutral on the bill.


CCW BILL ALERT – SB 2193 – VIABLE PROPOSAL ON THE TABLE

After many years of working to advance a Right to Carry bill, there is a viable proposal on the table. This bill, SB 2193, sponsored by Representative Brandon Phelps, is not a perfect bill but it does have several good points, for example:


  • Shall issue

  • Statewide pre-emption of all gun laws

  • Commercially available training

  • Vehicles will be a safe haven

However, the bill does call for:


  • 16 hours of training, although some previous training will count toward those hours

  • $150.00 license fee, for five years

  • Carry on mass transportation prohibited

This bill, if passed, will bring Right to Carry to Illinois, but due to the restrictions in the bill we are neutral on the bill.

While many people have been involved in this effort, Representative Brandon Phelps has demonstrated superior leadership and should be commended for his resolve.

The actual bill is being offered as an amendment to SB 2193. The language of the amendment can be found here.

According to the Rockford Register Star, the National Rifle Association has not taken a position on the bill.

“It’s a combination, a balance of both sides,” Phelps said, adding that he believes pro-gun groups such as the National Rifle Association have not taken a position on the bill. The NRA endorsed previous versions sponsored by Phelps.


Todd Vandermyde, chief lobbyist for the National Rifle Association in Illinois, declined to comment Wednesday and deferred all questions to the organization’s national headquarters. NRA officials could not be reached for comment.

 The biggest plus of the bill is that it does away with home-rule by Chicago and Cook County on firearms laws. This would mean that items like the Chicago’s rules for issuance of firearms license would be gone as would Cook County AWB. This post from Illinois gun rights group GunsSaveLife.com does a good job in pointing the full impact of getting rid of home-rule on firearms laws. They contend that by agreeing to this House Speaker Michael Madigan has thrown Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle under the bus.

Thirdpower who is an Illinois resident finds it to be a particularly unappetizing sandwich.

Miguel at GunFreeZone gives his opinion here. He believes we’re getting shafted by the bill.

Sebastian thinks it might be the best we can get right now.

My feeling is that it’s a shall-issue bill, with preemption. It’s the
final offer from the leadership. I’d take the deal and then work to
improve the bill through legislation, and I’d re-litigate over the steep
fees and argue that many of the places you’re prohibited from carrying
are not “sensitive places” per the Heller decision.

The Rockford Register Star article details the prohibited places referred to by Sebastian.

Weapons would be prohibited from special events open to the public, schools, amusement parks, zoos and museums, libraries, property owned by park districts, playgrounds, universities and colleges, state and federal buildings, sporting events, residential mental health facilities, and police stations. Guns would be barred from parking lots under ownership of these places.


If riding public transit, an individual’s gun would have to be unloaded and stored away in a backpack or other carry-on bag.

One other thing about the bill – it has no provision for reciprocity with other states. The argument given by Rep. Kwame Raoul (D-Chicago) is that other states’ mental health reporting laws are weaker than that of Illinois. If you want to carry in Illinois and you aren’t a resident, it will cost you $300 plus you have to meet their training requirements.

If the pro-gun proponents of this bill are correct, future changes to the firearms laws will only take a simple majority instead of a 3/5’s majority since home rule provisions will be eliminated. If correct, I think you might see more changes in the Illinois gun laws in the future. There has been a majority to liberalize the state’s gun laws but not a super-majority.

Regardless of what happens in the State House, the bill will still have to pass the State Senate.

UPDATE: Please see the comment below from David Lawson. He and his wife Colleen were co-plaintiffs along with Otis McDonald in the ground-breaking Second Amendment case of McDonald v. Chicago. The Lawsons have been at the forefront of the fight for gun rights in the state of Illinois for many years. His perspective on these issues is important and should be given heed.