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Illinois Concealed Carry Compromise Language Posted

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.

Is Nothing Sacred? (updated with letter)

The Public Access Counselor of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office says the Illinois State Police must release the names of all FOID card holders to the Associated Press.

According to a story in the Chicago Tribune, the Illinois State Police have always kept the names of the FOID card holders private. The State Police had argued that releasing this information would violate the privacy of the FOID card holders and should be exempted from the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. This argument was overruled by the Public Access Counselor.

The letter was released on Monday night but it is not yet up on the Attorney General’s website. I have requested a copy of the letter from the Office of the Public Access Counselor. If I can get it, I will post it here.

Given that to possess a firearm in the state of Illinois one must have a FOID card, this list gives the press the name and address of every registered gun owner in the state. If something like this were to be published, criminals would be given a shopping list of houses ripe for break-ins. A contrarian view might be that crooks would know which houses could be more dangerous to hit because the owner is armed. Frankly, I lean more towards the former than the latter.

UPDATE: As I noted above, I requested a copy of the letter from the Public Access Counselor. I just received it this morning. I have embedded the full 8-page letter below.

FOID Letter – 10313 Rfr f Pb Ex Improper Sa