HB183

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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.